2006年VOA标准英语-Vigil Held in Washington for Slain Russian Jour

By Sean Maroney
Washington
17 October 2006 
 

slain1 Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya at the Embassy of the Russian Federation2, in Washington" src="/upimg/allimg/070504/1357560.jpg" width="147" border="0" /> Candlelight vigil to honor slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya at the Embassy of the Russian Federation, in Washington

One of Russia's most prominent journalists, Anna Politkovskaya, was found murdered on October 7 in an elevator in her apartment building after being shot in the head. Human-rights defenders³ gathered to remember her on Monday while observing a Russian folk belief that on the ninth day after someone's death the soul leaves the body and angels guide it to its next destination. 

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In remembrance of slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, about 100 mourners lit thin, white candles late Monday outside the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington.

Several democracy, human-rights and journalism⁴ organizations organized the peaceful vigil. Freedom House official Paula Schriefer says her group wants to remember the journalist who was committed to exposing alleged⁵ Russian atrocities⁶ in Chechnya and to stress what her murder means for the world.

"We want people to know more broadly about the importance of press freedom throughout the world and highlight declines there, not only in Russia, but obviously in other parts of the world as well," she said.

Reporters Without Borders official Elsa Vidal says 21 journalists have been killed in Russia since President Vladimir Putin took office in 2000. There has been one conviction.

"What we can say is that Russia is not a safe country for journalists. Russia has proved unable to protect its journalists," noted⁷ Vidal.

Vidal says it is difficult to say who is ultimately responsible for the murders. But Committee to Protect Journalists official Nina Ognianova questions the government's response to the deaths.

"Many of these cases, the government announces very early in the case that these crimes are not connected to the professional activity of the reporter," noted Ognianova. "They are most probably just an act of robbery or street murder or like a common crime. And the investigators⁸ and prosecutors⁹ are not doing enough to look at the professional motives¹⁰."

Murders like Politkovskaya's, for the most part, occur at the reporters' homes and offices, far away from the battlefield. Organizations like Vidal's Reporters Without Borders say they do not overlook any professional motives.

"Most of the ones that have been killed were most of the time speaking about connections between businessmen and political people," added Vidal. "They were speaking about corruption¹¹. They were speaking about violence. They were speaking about civil rights not being protected."

A journalism colleague of Politkovskaya, Dimitri Klimenko, said the Russian government's hostile attitude toward journalists was in part to blame for the deaths.

"It was a societal hit. That they had established the environment and the circumstance by which these journalists who spoke¹² out for truth could be murdered," said Klimenko.

The Russian Embassy had no response to those gathered outside. But organizers of Monday's event in Washington said similar gatherings¹³ abroad met different responses, such as one in Nazran in the Russian republic of Ingushetia.

"Unfortunately, the event in Nazran was violently broken up by police. Eight people were detained," said the spokeswomen for the event. "One person is being hospitalized. And to the best of our knowledge, they are still in detention¹⁴. And we do not know under what charges they are being held."

President Putin has promised an investigation¹⁵ into Politkovskaya's murder.

1 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 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。

13 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

14 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。