2006年VOA标准英语-Tsvangirai Supporters Refused Bail After Attack

By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
12 July 2006

A member of parliament and three young activists¹ all loyal to founding Movement for Democratic Change President Morgan Tsvangirai were refused bail² at a court hearing in Harare Wednesday.  They are accused of being involved in violent attacks against former MDC colleagues 10 days ago.

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Since the formation of the MDC in late 1999, most victims of political violence have claimed they were attacked by members of the ruling ZANU-PF party.

Now it is MDC against MDC. The party split in to two factions⁴ last October.

Four opposition⁵ political activists attacked in a working class suburb southeast of Harare were in court Wednesday, two of them still heavily bandaged.

They claim they were attacked and injured by former colleagues, in the faction³ of the divided MDC which is loyal to Morgan Tsvangirai.

They said in statements to the police they had known many of those who attacked them from the early days of the MDC. They said when they were attacked they were told they were being punished for being disloyal to Mr. Tsvangirai.

The police brought three young men to court who they say were part of the gang who carried out the attack.

Judge William Bhila refused them bail saying he feared they would abscond⁶.

MDC MP for Harare North Trudy Stevenson at Avenues Clinic after being allegedly assaulted with a machete in political violence, July 4, 2006  
  
The most senior of those attacked is MDC member of parliament Trudy Stevenson, the only white woman to be a member of parliament since Zimbabwe's independence 26 years ago.

She had her head split open and her wrist broken during the attack by a gang of between 30 and 40 people.

Her colleague Linos Mushonga has a broken arm. Two others were badly beaten and bruised⁷ but their physical injuries have largely healed.

All four are in the other faction of the MDC lead by Arthur Mutambara.

Earlier in the day the judge also refused bail to another MDC legislator, Timothy Mbawu, who is also loyal to Mr. Tsvangirai, and who the state says paid the group to carry out the attack to stop them campaigning in his area.

The state says it has several more men in custody⁸ who will all be charged in connection with the same offense⁹.

The united MDC nearly defeated President Robert Mugabe at elections in 2000 just nine months after the party was formed.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

3 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

4 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

5 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。

6 abscond   

v.潜逃，逃亡

参考例句：

• Kenobi managed to kill Grievous，and abscond with his starfighter.克诺比试图击毙了格里沃斯，并拿他的战斗机逃跑了。
• You can not abscond from your responsibilities.你不能逃避你的职责。

7 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

8 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

9 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。