How should we deal with deposed leaders?

Egypt's prosecutor general has ordered the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak, ahead of an investigation into corruption and abuse allegations. It follows tens of thousands of protesters staging weekly Friday protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, demanding that he stand trial.

But is that always the solution?Is it more important to ensure that a leader who is oppressing his people steps down? If that means allowing him to go into exile, without standing trial, would that mean more dictators would be willing to relinquish power?

What should happen to a leader once they've been ousted from power and there are allegations of corruption, wrong doing or violence hanging over them?

Would it be for the greater good of the country?

Comments

1. Pancha Chandra wrote: All leaders should be accountable for their actions which simply means leaders should be prepared to justify critical decisions they took which had or could have implications on the lives of citizens. Without accountability leaders would be able to ride rough shod over the rights of citizens. Properly constituted courts should decide if actions were fair or not. Impartiality of judges is the cardinal governing principle.

2.Danny wrote: This is a difficult problem. Justice needs to take it's toll, but if we consider Zimbabwe we wil se the Mugabe will never step down due to fear of his own safety, so perhaps for the good of all the Zimbabwian citizens as well as the other people affected, one should considder an amnesty of some sort?

3.modernJan wrote: The court at The Hague is way too soft in my opinion, they also have a horribly incompetent prosecution. They take years to convict somebody, if at all, costing millions: while the whole world literally saw the dictator's televised crimes happen they still use unreliable witnesses at the core of the prosecution, and in the end the dictator gets to spent a few years in a luxurious Dutch cell for crimes like genocide while a common thief in the dictator's home country has to spend 10 years in a rat in filthy cell he has to share with 10 other prisoners and 20 rats. Also the International Court allows dictators to use blood money to buy all-star teams of international lawyers, while they should be forced to make due with one pro bono lawyer, like the rest of us.

4. gary indiana wrote: Despots do not work their magic alone. They are merely the fruiting bodies of decadent fungus that grows beneath. This is seldom rooted-out upon their removal. What should be done is the hardest thing for oppressed citizenry to do; to focus attention upon the causes rather than upon the consequences. It is not the despots, nor even their minions that are the problem; but societies themselves that condone and even nurture the inequalities, mistrust, privilege and corruption upon which these people prosper.

5.Guido wrote: In the short term it seems to be beneficial to offer a former dictator a deal, but it is important to send a signal to all leaders in the world, that their actions may have consequences.

6.Alan in AZ wrote: No Leader should be above the law! That should be the first requirement for any countries leader! Otherwise the citizens will never be safe!

Section 5. Picture

Совет врача.

UNIT 12

Section 1. Практикум Линн Виссон

Текст 23

Интервью с Викторией Федоров

Interview with Viktoria Fyodorova

(Читается с американским акцентом)

Виктория Федорова приехала в Москву. Навещала своих ста­рых друзей, гуляла по совершенно незнакомому для нее теперь городу, навещала могилу матери. Дочь кинодивы 30—40-х гг. и американского офицера (за свою любовь он заплатил высылкой из дружественного СССР, она — тюрьмой и ссылкой) и сама кинодива 70-х вернулась на Родинупосле четверти века жизни в Америке.

— Вы вернулись из небытия — многие годы в России о вас не
известно ровно ничего. Что вы чувствуете теперь?

— Происходит что-то странное. Звоню человеку, с кем не разговаривала 25 лет, и слышу: «Вика, здорово, как дела?» Вроде как не уезжала я никуда.Создается печатление, что мы утратили ощущение времени. Другие говорят: «В один прекрас­ный день тебя попросту не стало. Ты исчезла, будто и не было тебя никогда». На самом деле это самое исчезновение было вполне закономерным,если учесть, в какое жесткое время я уез­
жала из России. В ту пору мой поступок квалифицировался как предательство, хотя я вовсе не собиралась эмигрировать. Поеха­ла на три месяца на первую встречу со своим отцом, которого искала 15 лет. Ни малейшего желания жить там у меня не было: здесь оставались мама, любимая работа, были назначены съем­ки у Светланы Дружининой... Однако вышло, что я встретила человека, мы полюбили друг друга, я вышла за него замуж. Он был американец, для него приехать в тогдашний СССР было совершенно нереально.Вот я и решилась. У меня долго еще оставалось советское подданство, и лишь после убийства мамы я сказала, что не хочу быть гражданкой этой кровавой страны,и отослала свой паспорт в посольство. Теперь у меня американ­ское гражданство. Но человек я русский.

— Что вы делали все эти годы ?

— Была домохозяйкой. Воспитывала сына. Работала моде­лью. Снималась для ТВ и в документальном кино. Написала две книги: автобиографическую и роман из древнерусской истории, который мы сделали вместе с Робином Муром (американский писатель)... и теперь никак не можем продать в издательство, потому что сейчас исторические романы — это немодно.

— Вы многие годы предпринимаете попытку сделать художе­
ственный фильм о судьбе вашей мамы. Что может побудить чело­
века заново пережить самые трагические моменты своей жизни ?

— А никто не говорит, что это дается легко. До сих пор не­которые эпизоды не могу пересказывать без слез. Но мама за­служила хотя бы то, чтобы ее история была рассказана правди­во. А то сил нет читатьвсе эти дешевые журналистические рас­следования, книги, где обстоятельства маминой жизни и смер­ти выворачиваются наизнанку,обрастают несусветными домыс­лами, историями о мифических бриллиантах... Мотив, который движет авторами,понятен: делать деньги. Ну и Бог с ними. Не стану же я бегать за каждым и причитать: «Что же ты, окаян­ный, понаписал!» В Америке этого добра еще больше, и им по­ливают друг друга прилюдно и ежедневно. Такой своеобразный способ существования. Для меня же главное — сделать эту ис­торию, какой она была на самом деле. А это была история прекрасной любви с трагическим оборотом.

— Однако в Москву вы приехали с совсем другим кинопроектом...

— Вы про мой фильм говорите? Ну, это совсем другая исто­рия. Современная, детективная, в хичкоковском духе. Про то, как муж пытается свести с ума жену, чтобы она исчезла из его
жизни. Дело происходит у нас в Америке, главная героиня — русская, вышедшая замуж за американца. Когда я приезжала в Москву в начале 90-х, мне предложили сразу несколько ролей, и я отказалась: не хотелось появляться перед зрителем, который так давно меня не видел, в откровенно слабых картинах. Вот и решила сделать кино сама. Поскольку я не сценарист, да и мой русский за эти годы стал немного корявым,обратилась за помо­
щью к Эдику Володарскому и Андрею Разумовскому, чтобы они довели до ума мою писанину.

— Говорят, вы никогда не пересматриваете свои старые филь­
мы, и у вас даже нет кассет с ними. Почему?

— Не хочу оглядываться в ту сторону, куда меня еще очень манит. Быть актером — заболевание наподобие алкоголизма: это не проходит. Когда понимаешь, что шансов реализовать себя в этом направлении очень мало, какой смысл себя мучить.
В этом плане я вся в папу.Он был адмиралом американских ВМС, а когда ушел в отставку, первым делом сжег свою форму. Он сказал: «А что ей в шкафу пылиться? Я знаю, что адмирал,
что сделал много для страны, и мне не нужен пиджак с погона­ми, чтобы напоминать о том, кто я есть и кем я был». Так и я. Короче говоря, я не смотрю свои старые фильмы. Хотя... Рань­
ше смотрела себя на экране и думала, что все сыграно ужасно неправильно. А теперь я себе нравлюсь.

Viktoria Fyodorova came to/arrived in Moscow. She went to see/visited her old friends, strolled about/walked around a city that is now totally foreign to her/a city she no longer knows, visited/saw/went to her mother's grave. The daughter of a movie star of the 30s and 40s and of an American officer (he paid for his love with exile from the "friendly" USSR, and she — with prison and exile), and herself a movie star of the 70s, she has come back to Russia/her native land/homeafter a quarter of a century/25 years/in America.

— You've come back from nowhere/You've come back from being a
nonperson — for many years absolutely nothing was known about
you/you didn't exist in Russia. How do you feel now?

— It feels strange/it's odd/something funny is happening. I call up someone whom I haven't spoken to/with whom I've had no contact/whom I haven't talked to/for 25 years, and I hear: "Vika, hi/hello, how are things/what's up?" Just like I never left/It's as though I never left.It's as though we've lost our sense of time. Other say, "One fine day you just weren't there/were gone/just upped and left. You disappeared, as though you'd never existed." In fact that disappearance was totally logical/ understandable/legitimate,if you look at the harsh times/difficult period/when I left Russia. At that time my action was called/described as/termed betrayal/the act of a traitor though I had no plans to/did not intend to/emigrate/wasn't at all thinking of emigrating. I left for three months to see my father for the first time, and I'd been looking for him for 15 years. I didn't have the slightest desire to stay/remain there: here I'd left behind my mother, my work which I loved, I had a film planned with Svetlana Druzhinina... But it happened/turned out that I met someone/a man, we fell in love, I married him. He was an American, and it was totally unthinkable/ unrealistic/out of the question/impossible for him to come to the USSR then/and at that time coming to the USSR for him was totally unreal.
And so I made up my mind/And then I took a decision. For a long time I kept Soviet citizenship, and only after my mother's murder I said that I didn't want to be a citizen of this bloodstained country,and sent
back/ returned my passport to the embassy. Now I have American citizenship. But I'm still Russian at heart/I'm still Russian.

— What did you do all these years ?

— \ was a housewife. Raised my son. Worked as a model. Acted for TV and for documentary films. I wrote two books: an autobiography and a novel about ancient Russian history, which I did
with Robin Moore, an American writer...and now we can't manage to sell it to a publisher, because historical novels aren't fashionable.

— For many years you've been trying to make/shoot a feature film
about your mother and her fate. What could prompt/make/bring
someone to relive the most tragic moments of her life?

— No one says that's easy. I still can't talk about some scenes without crying/tears. But my mother at least deserved to have the truth about her told/to have her true story told. I'm fed up with/I can't put up with/I've had it withall those cheap investigations by journalists, the books in which the events/circumstances of my mother's life and death are turned inside out/all wrong/upside down,adorned/blown up with flights of fantasy/wild fabrications/ideas/ total distortions, stories about some invented diamonds... What's behind these authors'/writers' reasons/motives/ actions/What moves these authors/what makes these authors do this/isclear: to make money. Well, too bad for them/forget about them/tough luck. I'm not going to run after each of them wailing "what have you invented/ dreamed up, damn you!" In America there's even more of that stuff, and that gets hung out in public/thrown about publicly/they trade those kind of accusations/sling that kind of stuff back and forth/every day. It's a kind of a weird life style. For me the most important thing is to show this story the way it really was. And that was the story of a beautiful/marvelous love with a tragic twist.

— But you've come to Moscow with a completely different film project...

— You mean/you're talking about my film? Well, that's another
story/that's completely different/that's something else altogether. It's modern, a Hitchcock style detective film. About how a husband tries to drive his wife crazy/nuts/mad, to get her out of his life. It takes
place in America, where I live, and the heroine is a Russian who'smarried an American. When I came to Moscow in the early 90s I was offered several roles right away, but I refused: I didn't want to appear
before/be seen by/an audience, which hadn't seen me for such a long time, in really/frankly bad films. And so I decided to do/shoot/a film myself. Since I'm not a screenwriter, and my Russian/has gotten a
bit/slightly shaky/isn't what it used to beover/after all these years, I asked for help from Edik Volodarsky and Andrei Razumovsky, tofinish off/polish my scribbles.

— I've heard that/People say/It seems that you never watch your old
films, and that you don't even have videotapes of them. Why?

— I don't want to look back to something that still tempts/ lures/attracts me/very strongly. Being an actor is an illness like alcoholism: it sticks around/you don't get better/doesn't end. When
you understand that the chances for success/self-fulfillment here/in this area are infinitesimal/small, what's the point of torturing yourself/ agonizing over it? Here/In that/I'm just like my father/I'm my father's daughter/I'm a chip off the old block —My father was an admiral in the American navy, and when he retired, the first thing he did was to burn his uniform. He said, "Why should it gather dust in the closet? I know I'm an admiral, that I did a lot/a great deal/ much/for the country, and I don't need a jacket with epaulets to remember/recall who I am and who I was." Me, too/That's me/I'm that way/I'm just like that, too.Well/in fact, I don't watch my old films. Although... formerly/in the past I'd see myself on the screen and think that all of that was played/terribly/really badly acted all wrong. But now I like myself.

Section 2. Phrasal Verbs

HAND

1. You will have to hand out the tickets yourself. 2. Hand over the mustard, please. 3. It was handed down from our fathers. 4. Will you hand up some more nails? I can't get down every minute. 5. You seem to have a light hand at knitting. 6. The stray dog looked as if it had suffered a lot at its former master's hand. 7. The new shops are at hand. 8. The two contenders went hand in hand. 9. These youngsters must be taken in hand. 10. The two girls are hand and glove. 11. The young champions got the upper hand over their elder competitors. 12. Will you lend me a hand with my bag­gage? 13. He handed the girl into the taxi.

1. You will have to deliver the tickets yourself. 2. Pass the mus­tard, please. 3. We have inherited it from our fathers. 4. Will you give me some more nails? I can't get down every other minute. 5. You seem to be good at knitting. 6. The stray dog looked as if it had suffered a lot from its former master. 7. The new shops are Quite near. 8. The two contenders made progress at the same rate. p These youngsters must be disciplined. 10. The two girls are very intimate. 11, The young champions obtained advantage over their el­der competitors. 12. Will you help me with my baggage? 13. He wiped the girl into the taxi.

CALL

1. I have called to tell you that our exam will be postponed till after tomorrow. 2. When did they call you up? 3. One of the best pupils was called out to recite the poem to the rest of the class. 4. Call in the doctor at once! The case is urgent. 5. He called on us to help the pupils that lagged behind. 6. Call them back. 7. Call out, in case you lose your way in the thicket. 8. The situation calls for quick action. 9. The performance was called off because of the air­ raid. 10. Call me at seven, please. 11.The priests called down punishment on the people for their evil ways.

1. I have come to tell you that our exam will be postponed till after tomorrow. 2. When did they mobilize you? 3. One of the best pupils was told to recite the poem to the rest of the class. 4. Sum­mon the doctor at once! The case is urgent. 5. He appealed to us to help the pupils that lagged behind. 6. Tell them to return. 7. Shout in case you lose your way in the thicket. 8. The situation demands quick action. 9. The performance was stopped because of the air-raid. 10. Ring me up at seven, please. 11.The priests damned people for their evil ways. -

Section 3. Typical Drill