275 肯尼亚总统莫伊起诉美国前特使（在线收听）

Moi Files Libel Suit Against Former US Envoy

Katy Salmon

Nairobi

31 Jul 2001 15:54 UTC

Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi and a key 1)aide are 2)suing a former U.S. 3)ambassador for suggesting they were involved in the murder of former foreign minister, Robert Ouko. This is the second time the Moi government has gone to court to silence 4)accusations of role in the murder, which occurred more than 10 years ago.

President Moi and cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott have filed separate libel cases against retired U.S. envoy Smith Hempstone, for 5)implying they participated in Dr. Ouko's murder in 1990.

They are also suing a local book store, the Text Book Centre, for sale and distribution of Mr. Hempstone's 6)autobiography, Rogue Ambassador. In the book, Mr. Hempstone suggests Dr. Ouko was murdered at State House, the residence of the president.

Foreign Minister Ouko was one of Kenya's most promising politicians. He disappeared shortly after returning from a trip to the United States with President Moi in 1990. Three days later, his mutilated, burned body was discovered on a hill behind his home in Koru, near Kisumu in western Kenya.

It was widely reported that President Moi and Dr. Ouko argued after the minister 7)upstaged Mr. Moi at a breakfast meeting with then-U.S. President George Bush.

Mr. Hempstone's writes in Rogue Ambassador that after returning to Kenya, President Moi summoned Dr. Ouko to State House and beat him 8)unconscious. The book goes on to say that Dr. Ouko was later tortured by the members of Kenya's Criminal Investigations Department before Mr. Biwott shot him twice in the head.

In their lawsuits, President Moi and Mr. Biwott say Mr. Hempstone's words portray them as 9)criminals unfit to hold public office. They want an 10)injunction restraining the former ambassador from continuing to publish and sell his book.

Mr. Hempstone served as ambassador to Kenya from 1989 to 1993 and frequently angered the Moi government by siding with opposition calls for an end to one-party rule.

This is not the first time the government has been accused of murdering Dr. Ouko. Many Kenyans began to suspect a cover up when a government 11)pathologist declared that Dr. Ouko had committed suicide.

The Kenyan government invited 12)detectives from Scotland Yard to come and investigate the death of Dr. Ouko, but Nairobi ordered them to return home before they were able to complete their investigation. However, in a preliminary report, the British detectives concluded that Dr Ouko had been murdered after being tortured. Mr. Biwott was arrested as a prime suspect but released for lack of evidence.

One of the Scotland Yard team, Dr. Iain West, a pathologist, went on to write a book that implicated Mr. Biwott in Dr. Ouko's death. Last year, Mr. Biwott sued Dr. West for defamation, charging that the book portrayed him as, in his words, a murderer and most corrupt person.

Mr. Biwott won a record $400,000 in 13)compensation and the book is now 14)banned in Kenya.

The Kenyan government has never released the Scotland Yard report into Dr. Ouko's murder, despite great public demand for it to do so.

(1)      aide[eId]n.<美>助手, 副官, 侍从武官

(2)      sue[sU:]vt.控告, 向...请求, 请愿vi.提出诉讼, 提出请求

(3)      ambassador[Am5bAsEdE(r)]n.大使

(4)      accusation[Akju:zeIF(E)n]n.谴责, [律]指控

(5)      imply[Im5plaI]vt.暗示, 意味

(6)      autobiography[C:tEJbaI5R^rEfI]n.自传

(7)      upstage[Qp5steIdV]adj.自负的

(8)      unconscious[Qn5kRnFEs]adj.不省人事, 未发觉的, 无意识的

(9)      criminal[5krImIn(E)l]n.罪犯, 犯罪者adj.犯罪的, 犯法的, 罪恶的

(10)      injunction[In5dVQNkF(E)n]n.命令, 指令, [律]禁令(法院强制被告从事或不得从事某项行为的正式命令)

(11)      pathologist[pAWE5lRdVIst]n.病理学者

(12)      detective[dI5tektIv]n.侦探adj.侦探的

(13)      compensation[kRmpen5seIF(E)n]n.补偿, 赔偿

(14)      ban[bAn]n.禁令vt.禁止, 取缔(书刊等)