VOA标准英语 Zimbabwe Political Prisoners Put Back Under Guard

Last Friday, Zimbabwe's remaining three political prisoners were released on bail¹. Two remained in the hospital nursing injuries sustained after they were detained late last year. But they are now back under armed prison guard at the hospital.
　
Three members of the Movement for Democratic Change who say they have been beaten by members of Mugabe's youth with sticks pose in Harare (File)

Ghandi Mudzingwa was picked up by plain clothes men in Harare last November and taken to a prison cell. He said he was tortured and accused of bombing a police station in Harare. His case went to court several times and his freedom was ordered repeatedly by the High Court and opposed by the state.

Mudzingwa is the former personal assistant to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

He was released Friday and all guards were removed from the hospital. But he says he was alarmed when police visited him and MDC director of security Chris Dlamini theis week.

"We feared the worst that we were going through a repeat of November and December when we were abducted²," said Dlamini. "After the abduction we found ourselves in prison cells without a warrant of committal. I was tortured. The worst of it was water boarding, when they put water in this laundry sink, you are blindfolded³ then they put a sack cloth on your face, dip you in it, in it, legs raised right up - they are drowning you, then when they take you out, they throw you to the floor. Honestly I thought I was going to die."

Mudzingwa said he believes officials are trying to derail the political agreement to form an inclusive government.

"It is just a ploy," he said. "They do not want this inclusive government to work. If it works it takes away the gravy⁴ train for them."

Chris Dlamini has also made allegations of torture to the media.

He says he also endured water boarding and believed he was going to die. He said he signed a confession⁵ in which he revealed details, which he said he made up, of MDC military training in neighboring Botswana to overthrow⁶ Mr. Mugabe.

"That was so bad. The first time I have ever been subjected to that kind of torture. I have boxed in my life when I was young, I got knocked out, but this was something else. I was convinced these people wanted to kill me," said Dlamini. "I had to say that in order to save my life and it really worked when I just lied to them, gave them a story which they bought, then the beating stopped. So I got to know they did not have a story and they were relying on whatever I was telling them."

He said being under prison guard without warning after he has been released on bail made him believe he was going to be abducted again. Both men have been charged with terrorism and banditry and their trials are due later in the year.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said the men's case is under investigation⁷ and the actions of the police were in line with the law.

Officials have indicated through the pro-Mugabe Herald⁸ newspaper the state will appeal Mudzingwa and Dlamini's freedom on bail.

In the same hospital Tuesday, two farm workers from central Harare were admitted with bullet wounds.

According to the Commercial Farmers' Union they were shot by police when they tried to return to work, following a visit to the district by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara last Friday.

1 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。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 blindfolded   

v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• They were each blindfolded with big red handkerchiefs. 他们每个人的眼睛都被一块红色大手巾蒙住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gravy   

n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快

参考例句：

• You have spilled gravy on the tablecloth.你把肉汁泼到台布上了。
• The meat was swimming in gravy.肉泡在浓汁之中。

5 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

6 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

7 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。

8 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。