2007年VOA标准英语-Journalist Rights Group in DRC Outraged Over De

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
29 August 2007

A journalist rights group is calling for a retrial in the Democratic Republic of Congo after four men were convicted Tuesday by a military court of killing¹ a journalist and sentenced to death.  Congolese police officials say justice has been served, but Reporters Without Borders says the trial has been a farce².  Selah Hennessy reports from the VOA West and Central Africa Bureau in Dakar.

The four men were found guilty of murdering Serge Maheshe, a U.N. radio journalist who was shot dead in the eastern town of Bukavu in June.

Two of the men, both demobilized soldiers, have been sentenced as assassins, while the other two are said to have ordered and organized the murder.

General Gaston Luzembo, the chief inspector³ of police in South Kivu, says it's normal for some people to be unhappy about the sentencing, but he says the law has done its job.

But Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based international organization that advocates freedom of the press, says the verdict is absurd.

Spokesman Leonard Vincent says the two men convicted of ordering the killing, Serge Muhima and Alain Mulimdi Shamavu, were close friends of Maheshe and were with him when he was murdered.  Vincent says the two will appeal the verdict.

"What we believe is that this verdict is completely absurd and that something has to be done to start from scratch and redo this whole trial," he said.

He says the trial, which began only a day after the murder, has been plagued with problems from the beginning.

"The trial started the day after the killing with no ballistics expertise⁴, with no examination of the crime scene, with no confrontations⁵ of the various witnesses," he added.

He says no evidence has been produced to prove that the two journalists organized the murder of their friend or that they had any motivation to murder him.

Maheshe, the U.N. reporter, was one of at least four journalists murdered in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2005. Patrick Kikuku, a freelance photojournalist, was killed by unidentified men in August, only two months after Maheshe's murder.

Vincent says despite the killings⁶, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has done very little to improve the safety of journalists.

"Nothing serious has been done about these killings," he explained.  "When they are attacked or even killed, justice has never been done for them."

The world's largest journalist union, the International Federation⁷ of Journalists, says that after Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo is the most dangerous place in Africa for journalists.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

3 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

4 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

5 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

6 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

7 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。