VOA常速英语2008年-Whistleblower in Ethiopian Pedophilia Case Spar

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
07 March 2008

A British teacher in Ethiopia has been spared a jail sentence over defamatory comments she made in exposing pedophilia at a children's charity. VOA's Peter Heinlein reports from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

An Ethiopian lower court judge Friday told British teacher Jill Campbell that she no longer faces jail time for refusing to apologize to a Swiss charity she was convicted of defaming.  Campbell teaches at an English-language school in Addis Ababa.

Almost a decade ago, Campbell and her husband Gary compiled a report documenting sexual abuse at a children's home run by the charity Terre Des Hommes of Lausanne, Switzerland.  The report prompted Terre des Hommes to apologize and close its Ethiopian operations.

The orphanage¹ director, David Christie was subsequently convicted of sexually abusing young boys. He was sentenced by an Ethiopian court in 2003 to nine years hard labor².

But the Campbells also accused Terre des Hommes of lying to cover up the extent of the pedophilia scandal. The charity responded by suing the Campbells for defamation³. An Ethiopian court upheld the suit, and ordered the couple to apologize for their remarks.

Gary Campbell issued a public apology last month, saying he was doing so because he was concerned about the welfare of the couple's two children if both their parents were in prison, but Jill Campbell refused.

She faced a possible six-month jail sentence for contempt of court. But during a brief hearing Friday, Campbell was told Terrre des Hommes had dropped their demand for an apology.

Afterward⁴, she said she had no regrets.

"Nothing. I regret nothing, and I apologize for nothing as well, because we did nothing wrong," she said.

Campbell also had harsh words for her accusers.

"Terre Des Hommes have dropped the case against us," she added.  "I don't have to now apologize, but I would like to say that they've wasted seven years pursuing us through the courts and chasing us and intimidating⁵ us. Their 7 years would have been better supporting their victims and apologizing to them and fighting for compensation for them.  And I hope that they learn from this and that they start to fight for their victims instead of pursuing innocent people."

The Campbell's case had sparked widespread outrage⁶, and prompted formation of a support group known as "Stop Institutional Pedophilia in Ethiopia'.

One prominent Ethiopian observer of the case, Member of Parliament Ahmed Hassan said he would seek laws to protect whistleblowers like the Campbells.

"I think there will be a lot of things that we will look in our legal system that will pillory⁷ people like them to be dragged into court for doing exactly what any decent human being should have done," he said.

Even though Ms. Campbell will not have to serve jail time, the Campbells still must pay court costs for the seven years of litigation. The couple's attorney, Seleshi Ketsela told VOA the costs, including fees for Terre des Hommes attorneys, could exceed $10,000. That issue is to be settled at a later date.

1 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

5 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

6 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

7 pillory   

n.嘲弄；v.使受公众嘲笑；将…示众

参考例句：

• A man has been forced to resign as a result of being pilloried by some of the press.一人因为受到一些媒体的抨击已被迫辞职。
• He was pilloried,but she escaped without blemish.他受到公众的批评，她却名声未损地得以逃脱。