2006年VOA标准英语-Kenyans Protest Against Recent Media Raid

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
07 March 2006

 
Kenyan demonstrators carrying placards as they march in the streets of Nairobi
  
Thousands of Kenyans took to the streets Tuesday to protest against last week's government-led raid of the privately¹ owned Standard Media Group's television station and newspaper printing presses. Calls are growing for the resignation of the country's president and some top officials.

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The crowd wound its way through downtown Nairobi's streets, stopping in front of the offices of President Mwai Kibaki, National Security Minister John Michuki, parliament and other places.

At these locations, top officials of the opposition² group Orange Democratic Movement, which organized the event, addressed the swelling³ yet peaceful crowd, urging the government to respect press freedom.

Many protestors chanted and carried placards urging Michuki to resign for his role in ordering the recent raid.

In the early hours of last Thursday, up to 100 hooded⁴ police stormed the offices of the Kenya Television Network, shutting down transmission, taking computers, tapes, and other equipment, and briefly⁵ detaining four journalists.

Police then stormed the presses of the daily newspaper The Standard, destroying equipment and setting thousands of newspapers on fire.

Following the raid, Michuki admitted that the government was behind the action.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, police spokesman Jaspher Ombati said police raided the offices to collect what he says was evidence about an intended action to stir up ethnic⁶ hatred⁷ that would have posed a major threat to national security.

Ombati accused Standard journalists of accepting bribes⁸ to write articles as part of this alleged⁹ action.

But most Kenyans do not see it Ombati's way. Protestor Samuel Odoyo describes to VOA what he says was a heavy-handed way to silence dissent¹⁰.

"That's why we are here: to tell the world that we are supposed to get information as and when we need it," he said.  "I think the press should be given much freedom to know even what you keep under your bed. It [the raid]) is telling us that we are going back to old days when you were not supposed to talk about anything except [what] the government was supposed to say, and whatever the government says is final."

After the march in town, opposition politicians, media officials, civil society representatives, and others addressed the crowd in Nairobi's Uhuru Park.

The speakers condemned¹¹ the raid, with many calling for the resignations of President Kibaki and National Security Minister Michuki and the holding of snap elections.

Last Thursday's raid was the second crackdown against The Standard group in recent weeks. Three Standard journalists were arrested earlier last week over a story alleging¹² that President Kibaki met with former minister and senior opposition politician Kalonzo Musyoka.

The week before, police raided the offices of a tabloid¹³ called Weekly Citizen in response to a negative report about the president.

1 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

4 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

8 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

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。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

9 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

10 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

11 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

12 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

13 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。