迪拜被囚外商绝食抗议
Group of foreign businessmen in Dubai jail start hunger strike
About 20 jailed foreign businessmen have gone on hunger strike in Dubai to protest against lengthy sentences for writing cheques that bounced, a criminal offence in the United Arab Emirates.
迪拜约20名因开出遭银行拒付的支票(这在阿联酋是一种刑事犯罪)而入狱的外国商人已开始绝食，抗议自己被判长期监禁。
“I’ve exhausted every avenue that I can see,” Peter Margetts, 48, a former property developer, told the Financial Times on a prison pay phone.
前房地产开发商、48岁的彼得•马吉茨(Peter Margetts)通过监狱中的付费电话向英国《金融时报》表示：“我已用尽所有能够想到的办法。”
“I’ve exhausted the legal system, the lawyers have their hands tied here and they’re not going to rock the boat.”
“我已穷尽法律制度的可能性，这里的律师束手无策，而且他们也不打算惹事。”
Mr Margetts is one of three British prisoners who started a hunger strike on Sunday. Other jailed businessmen come from Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon, India and Pakistan.
马吉茨是周日开始的这场绝食抗议中的三名英国囚犯之一。其他参加抗议的被囚商人来自爱尔兰、沙特、巴林、黎巴嫩、印度和巴基斯坦。
Many of the hunger strikers fell victim to Dubai’s once-thriving real estate market, struggling to meet payments when boom turned to bust in 2008. Twelve face sentences of more than 20 years because each bounced cheque can translate into a jail term of up to three years.
绝食抗议者中的许多人都是迪拜一度繁荣的房地产市场的牺牲品，2008年楼市由盛转衰时，他们变得捉襟见肘。有12人面临20年以上的监禁，每一张银行拒付的支票就相当于至多3年的监禁。
Mr Margetts, who has served three years of a more than 20-year sentence, said his cheques bounced after a fraudulent developer stole money from him. “Obviously it’s at the beginning [of the hunger strike] but I’m a strong sort of character – I got myself out of a really difficult life. I’ve always been a fighter, I’m not going to give up,” he said.
马吉茨被判入狱20多年，如今已服刑3年。他说，一名不诚实的开发商把他的钱偷走了，导致他的多张支票遭银行拒付。马吉茨说：“(绝食抗议)显然才刚刚开始，但我不是轻易屈服的人——我经历过非常困难的生活。我一直是个斗士，决不会放弃。”
The hunger strike has underlined the need for reform of the UAE’s financial system, which has tried to build a reputation as one of the world’s leading market hubs. Cheques remain the bedrock of the financial system, there is no clear bankruptcy law and the government is still working on a new one.
这场绝食抗议突显出阿联酋金融体制改革的必要性。阿联酋一直试图将自己打造为世界领先的金融中心之一。该国金融体制的基础仍然是支票，目前没有明确的破产法，新的破产法仍在制定之中。
