VOA慢速英语2021 国际社会谴责白俄罗斯迫降客机抓捕反对派领导人

A passenger airplane heading to Lithuania from Greece landed briefly¹ in Belarus on Sunday.

一架从希腊飞往立陶宛的客机周日短暂降落在白俄罗斯。

While the plane was in Belarusian airspace, air traffic controllers told the pilot there was a bomb threat against the plane. They asked the pilot to change direction and land at the airport in Minsk. A military plane also flew next to the Ryanair airplane and guided it to the airport.

当飞机进入白俄罗斯领空时，空中管制员告诉飞行员，飞机受到炸弹威胁。他们要求飞行员改变航向并降落在明斯克机场。一架军机也在这架瑞安航空的飞机旁伴飞，并将其引导至机场。

On board was 26-year-old Raman Pratasevich. He is an activist² and reporter who helped organize protests against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

机上坐着26岁的拉曼·普拉塔塞维奇。他是一名激进分子和记者，曾协助组织反对白俄罗斯领导人亚历山大·卢卡申科的抗议活动。

Pratasevich and his Russian girlfriend were taken off the plane in Minsk. Officials have not said where they are being held. No bomb was found and the plane was then permitted to continue on to Lithuania.

普拉塔塞维奇和他的俄罗斯女友在明斯克被带下飞机。有关官员没有透露他们被关在哪里。飞机上没有发现炸弹，然后被允许继续飞往立陶宛。

Passengers told reporters after landing in Lithuania that Pratasevich knew he was the reason for the change of direction in Belarus. One passenger told the Reuters news agency that Pratasevich started giving away things like his computer as soon as the pilot told them the plane would land in Minsk.

机上乘客在立陶宛落地后对记者表示，普拉塔塞维奇知道他是飞机在白俄罗斯改变航向的原因。有乘客对路透社表示，飞行员一告知他们飞机将在明斯克降落，普拉塔塞维奇便开始放弃电脑之类的物品。

Michael O'Leary is the head of Ryanair which operated the air plane. He said he believed that Belarus security agents had been on the plane and followed Pratasevich from Athens, Greece.

迈克尔·奥利里是负责运营这架飞机的瑞安航空公司的负责人。他说，他相信有白俄罗斯安全人员在飞机上，并从希腊雅典一路跟踪普拉塔塞维奇。

International reactions

国际反应

International reactions to the forced landing were strong and immediate³.

国际上立马对这次迫降给出了强烈反应。

The U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the incident "shocking" and asked for Pratesevich's release.

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯称此事令人震惊，并要求释放普拉特斯维奇。

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a "hijacking," and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda described the incident as a "state-sponsored terror act."

欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩称其为“劫机，”立陶宛总统吉塔纳斯·纳塞达则将此事称为“国家支持的恐怖主义行为。”

The EU, which has tried to encourage democracy and attempted to reduce Russian influence in Belarus, is now considering even stronger measures. Some EU leaders called for banning Belarus' national airline or excluding the nation from sports events. EU members Latvia and Lithuania, along with Britain, went ahead with instructions for their airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace.

欧盟试图鼓动民主并降低俄罗斯在白俄罗斯的影响力，欧盟正在考虑采取更强有力的措施。一些欧盟领导人呼吁禁止白俄罗斯的国家航空公司或是将该国踢出体育赛事。欧盟成员国拉脱维亚和立陶宛，以及英国进一步指示其航空公司避开白俄罗斯领空。

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was the only voice supporting Belarus' action. He said the incident needs to be investigated with clear minds after some time passes.

俄罗斯外交部长拉夫罗夫是唯一支持白俄罗斯行动的人选。他说，过一段时间需要对此次事件进行头脑清晰的调查。

Why did Belarus do it?

白俄罗斯为何这么做？

Alexander Lukashenko came to power in 1994 after the end of the old Soviet⁴ Union.

苏联解体后，卢卡申科于1994年上台。

In 2020, Lukashenko won another election but opposition⁵ groups said the vote was corrupt⁶. Months of protests followed. More than 34,000 people have been arrested for expressing their views against Lukashenko.

2020年，卢卡申科再次赢得选举，但是反对派表示，投票存在腐败。随后发生了数个月的抗议活动。已有3.4万多人已经表达反对卢卡申科的观点而被捕。

Pratasevich created a channel on the online messaging service Telegram and helped organize protests. Nearly 2 million people in the country of 9.3 million follow the channel. The Belarus government called the channel "extremist" and charged Pratasevich with inciting⁷ mass riots. He could face 15 years in prison if convicted of the charge.

普拉塔塞维奇在网络消息服务Telegram上创建了一个频道，并协助组织了抗议活动。该国930万人口中有近200万人关注了这个频道。白俄罗斯政府称这个频道为“极端主义”，并指控普拉塔塞维奇煽动大规模暴乱。如果被定罪，他可能面临15年监禁。

The rights group Amnesty International said the international community needs to make sure this method of silencing "dissenting⁸ voices is never repeated."

国际特赦组织表示，国际社会需要确保这种压制异议的方法不会再度上演。

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 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。

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

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 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

7 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

8 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。