VOA慢速英语--俄罗斯持不同政见者抵达德国后处于昏迷状态

German officials say Russian dissident Alexei Navalny is being held under guard at a Berlin hospital while recovering from a suspected poisoning.

Navalny is an opposition¹ leader, corruption² investigator³ and strong critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He got sick last Thursday on a plane flying to Moscow from Siberia, where he had been campaigning. The plane made an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk, where Navalny was hospitalized. He was flown to Germany for treatment on Saturday.

Supporters of the 44-year-old dissident believe he drank tea that contained poison. They blame the Russian government for his sickness, as well as a delay in transporting him to Germany. German Chancellor⁴ Angela Merkel had personally offered the country's assistance.

Berlin's Charité hospital said in a statement Monday that Navalny "is being treated in intensive care and remains⁵ in a medically induced coma⁶." The hospital said his condition is "serious" but not "life-threatening."

The team of doctors who have examined Navalny since his arrival on Saturday had found the presence of "cholinesterase inhibitors" in his system, the statement said. Cholinesterase inhibitors are substances found in several drugs, but also in some pesticides⁷ and nerve agents. The doctors said they had not yet identified the exact substance found in Navalny's system.

Merkel is calling on Russian officials to carry a full investigation⁸ of the poisoning of Navalny. She added, "Those responsible must be identified and held accountable."

Berlin police officers and federal agents were sent to the hospital to provide protection while Navalny receives treatment.

Russians claim no poison found

Russia's government had no immediate⁹ comment on the situation. Doctors at the Siberian hospital that first treated Navalny said Monday they had saved his life, but that two laboratory tests found no poisonous substances in his system.

"If we had found some kind of poison that was somehow confirmed then it would have been a lot easier for us," senior doctor Anatoly Kalinichenko told reporters in Omsk.

The hospital's chief doctor, Alexander Murakhovsky, rejected allegations made by Navalny's team that doctors in Omsk had acted together with Russian security services.

Representatives for Navalny called last week for Russia to launch a criminal investigation. As of Monday, Russia's Investigative Committee had not opened a case, a spokeswoman for Navalny said.

Ilya Yashin is an opposition politician in Moscow and a close ally of Navalny. In a video statement, he urged Russian law enforcement to investigate "an attempt at a life of a public figure" and look into the possible involvement of President Putin.

Like many other opposition politicians in Russia, Navalny has been detained by law enforcement and harassed¹¹ by groups supporting Russia's government. In 2017, he was attacked by several men who threw a chemical in his face that damaged an eye.

Last year, Navalny was rushed to a hospital from jail where he was serving a sentence on charges of violating protest rules. His team also suspected poisoning then. Doctors said he had a severe allergic¹² reaction and sent him back to detention¹³ the next day.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

stable – adj. not likely to change or end suddenly

induce – v. cause a particular condition

coma – n. the state of being unconscious for a long time

unfortunately – adv. used to say that you wish something was not true or that something had not happened

harass¹⁰ – v. to continue to annoy or upset someone over a period of time

allergic – adj. having an allergy - a medical condition in which your body reacts badly to something that you eat, breathe or touch

1 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。

2 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。

3 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

4 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

7 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 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。

11 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

12 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

13 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。