VOA标准英语2010年-Pakistani Court Finds 5 Americans Guil

Detained American Muslims look to media as they arrive to appear in an anti terrorist court in Sargodha, Pakistan [file photo]

A Pakistani court has sentenced five Americans to 10 years each in prison after finding them guilty of terror offenses¹.

Pakistani officials say five Americans, all Muslims in their early 20s, are guilty of criminal conspiracy² to do acts of terrorism and raising funds for criminal activity.

 

Defense³ lawyer Tariq Asad spoke⁴ to VOA shortly after the verdict was announced. He says the court acquitted⁵ the men of the more serious charges of planning war against Pakistan, directing others to launch attacks and attempting to cross the Afghan border illegally.

Asad says his legal team plans to file an appeal within the week and is prepared to take it all the way to the Pakistani Supreme⁶ Court.

"The charges have not been proved at the level of this anti-terrorism court," Asad said. "At the high court level, we believe that they will be acquitted. And if of course they are not acquitted, we will go up the highest level of the appeals court."

Two of the Americans are of Pakistani descent. The others are of Egyptian, Eritrean and Yemeni origin.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad tells VOA they respect the Pakistani judicial⁷ process.

Police detained the men in the country's Punjab province last December after their families in the Washington D.C. area reported them missing.

Pakistani authorities said they found e-mails and other evidence that showed the five Americans had contacted militants⁸ and were intent on committing a crime.

The Americans claim they are innocent and say they only wanted to do humanitarian⁹ work in Afghanistan. The men also said they were tortured by U.S. and Pakistan authorities while in jail – an allegation officials with both countries deny.

Prosecutors¹⁰ say they also will appeal for a longer sentence. They had been asking for life in prison.

International relations expert Ishtiaq Ahmad says with the frequency of global travel and the ease of communication on the Internet, it has never been easier for aspiring¹¹ terrorists to have a long reach.

"Everything is linked now, you see, from terrorist financing to people physically¹² traveling from one region, crossing thousands of miles and then coming and committing terrorism," said Ahmad.

Ahmad says it is that reason that countries need to coordinate¹³ their anti-terror efforts and laws. But he says that does not necessarily mean suspects have to be extradited to their home countries.

"I think [the] law must take its due course, wherever these people are captured and whatever their origins are," he added.

Earlier this week, a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen pleaded guilty to a failed attempt to ignite a car bomb in New York City's Times Square last month.

U.S. authorities say the defendant¹⁴, Faisal Shahzad, received explosives training from militants in Pakistan.

 

1 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

2 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

8 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

11 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

12 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

13 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

14 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。