2007年VOA标准英语-Ethiopian Government Defends Conviction of Jour

By Katy Migiro
Nairobi
13 June 2007

The Ethiopian government today hit back at critics who say it is using the courts to harass¹ journalists and get revenge against the opposition². Two journalists face a possible death sentence for trying to "overthrow³ constitutional rule". Katy Migiro has more on the story for VOA.

 

Mesfin Tesfaye and Andualem Ayele will find out on July 8 whether they are to receive the death penalty or life imprisonment⁴ for their crimes. The two were among seven Ethiopian journalists found guilty Monday of "conspiring⁵ to overthrow constitutional rule" and "inciting⁶ revolt".

 

Ethiopian government spokesman Bereket Simon says the courts were right to convict the journalists because they were calling for the violent overthrow of the government.

 

"Every citizen has the right to express himself or herself in a free way and this includes criticizing, dissenting⁷ with the positions of the government," he said. "On the other hand, it is illegal in the Ethiopian constitution to instigate⁸ violence and call people to rise up in arms. You can look into any publication of these newspapers. They were calling people to rise up in arms day in day out."

 

The head of the Africa desk at Reporters Without Borders, Leonard Vincent, disagrees.

 

"They were saying that people should have strong demands to the government since they believed the elections were stolen," he said. "So they wrote different things. But nothing in the court, in the trial, nothing proves that they called for an uprising and a violent uprising. They said that the people should have demands and that they should show their demands and their strength in the streets. That is true. But that is not a crime. That is not high treason."

 

The stories under scrutiny⁹ relate to the Ethiopian government's handling of disputed parliamentary elections in 2005. Almost 200 people died as the government cracked down on mass demonstrations¹⁰ complaining of fraud and vote rigging.

 

On Monday, a court found 38 senior opposition leaders guilty of charges related to the same period of protest in 2005.

 

Reporters Without Borders says the Ethiopian government should solve its problems with the opposition through political dialogue, not through the courts.

 

Many of those convicted did not defend themselves in court because they refused to recognize its legitimacy¹¹.

1 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

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 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

4 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

5 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

6 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

7 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

8 instigate   

v.教唆，怂恿，煽动

参考例句：

• His object was to instigate a little rebellion on the part of the bishop.他的目的是，在主教方面煽起一场小小的造反。
• It would not prove worthwhile to instigate a nuclear attack.挑起核攻击最终是不值得的。

9 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

10 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。