Non-literary translation 1, assignment 5

Dr. Mirjana Daničić

1. Translate the text into Serbian, paying special attention to the underlined parts:

Angela Davis was arrested by special agents of the FBI on October 13 1970 in New York
City. President Richard M. Nixon appeared on national television for ceremonies attendant to
the enactment of his new crime bill. The President took the occasion to congratulate the then
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover for the capture of the dangerous terrorist Angela Davis.

In spite of the fact that the warrant for Angela’s arrest was hopelessly defective, California
authorities quickly moved to obtain Angela’s extradition from New York. New York
Governor Nelson Rockefeller, obliging California Governor Ronald Reagan, signed the order
of extradition at once. At 3 a.m. on Tuesday, December 22, 1970 Angela was awakened by
officials at the New York Women’s House of Detention. She was informed her attorney
wished to see her. Still in her night clothes she went downstairs. Instead of her attorney she
was confronted by two policemen and two policewomen. Angela demanded to see her
lawyers. She was ordered to strip. She refused. The four officers slammed her to the floor,
handcuffed her with her hands behind, and threw her into a police car. Angela was driven to
an air force base in New Jersey. A National Guard plane was on the runway surrounded by
soldiers with fixed bayonets. She was put on the plane, and eleven hours later it landed in
California; the runway was lined with soldiers. Everything was done to break her spirit even
before the court proceedings began. She was escorted into a waiting car and driven to jail
where she was booked for murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. At her first appearance in
court Angela said:

“I now declare publicly before the court, before the people of this country that I am innocent
of all charges which have been levelled against me. I am innocent and therefore maintain that
my presence in this courtroom is unrelated to any criminal act.”

The ignominious trial stretched into torturous months until June 1972. The defense was
scheduled to make its closing argument on June 1. People began gathering at the entrance to
the courthouse at 3 o’clock in the morning. By 7 a.m. a couple of hundred were standing on
line. Only a handful were to get inside. In the closing argument, the jury had to be told
something of the Black experience in America. They had to understand the intensity of
Angela’s commitment to Black people and her political convictions. Only this way could the
jurors be made to uphold the presumption of innocence when they began their deliberations.
The defense sketched three hundred years of Black history in America: the horrors of the
African slave trade; nightmares of bondage; fugitive slave laws; the rape of the African
women and the lynch terror, the killings of Malcolm X, Martin King and so many others.
“The life of Black people, ladies and gentlemen, has been one of tragedy, oppression, hatred
and injustice. The life of Angela Davis for the last two years has been one of terror and agony.
This case has been a stain in the history of justice in this country.” The defense concluded by
calling upon the jury to bring “the only verdict that could satisfy justice in this case, and that
is verdict of not guilty.”

1
On June 4 the jury was brought in and the verdicts were read by a clerk. The jury found the
defendant Angela Y. Davis NOT guilty. And then the judge said: “The defendant is
discharged and her bail is exonerated. This trial stands adjourned.”

(Taken from: B. Aptheker, The Morning Breaks – The Trial of Angela Davis)

2. Translate the following passages into English:

a) Prizor je bio kao iz filmova: dvadesetak policijskih automobila parkiranih ispred ulaza
u zgradu, helikopter iznad nje, na desetine istražitelja u kancelarijama, naoružani policajci,
petoro uhapšenih. Jedino je mesto zbivanja bilo neuobičajeno: frankfurtsko sedište Dojče
banke – najmoćnije nemačke bankarske institucije i jedne od najvažnijih na svetskom
bankarskom tržištu – u koje je policija ušla u okviru istrage o umešanosti njenih direktora u
višemilionsku poresku prevaru. Pod istragom javnog tužilaštva su generalni direktor,
finansijski direktor i dva člana Upravnog odbora, što već nameće utisak o problematičnom
upravljanju bankom.

(Taken from: NIN, 27.12.2012)

b) Члан 46 Душановог законика заповедао је свима да се боре против

имовинског криминала, обичног и организованог. Царство није имало
полицију, па је одговорност за хватање лопова и разбојника била на целом селу,
односно општини. У селу је бирано пет или шест добрих људи, који ће
спроводити „општу истрагуˮ која треба да утврди да ли је осумњичени „познати
лоповˮ, што је значило да се професионално бави крађама и разбојништвима.

Тако је у средњем веку функционисало специјално правосуђе против

организованог криминала, које је било зачетак српске верзије судског поступка.
Сеоски органи су покретали поступак, а уколико би се у неком селу нашао лопов
или разбојник, цело село би било расељено уз обавезу да надокнади штету.
Професионални лопови кажњавани су ослепљивањем, а професионални
разбојници вешањем.

(Based on: Politika, 25.8.2019)