Malawi: Convicted gays released

  1. Posted on Sunday 30 May 2010 - 13:53
    Chancy Namadzunda
    Image of Chancy Namadzunda
    Chancy Namadzunda, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi
    The convicted and jailed Malawian gay couple released following a presidential pardon. President Bingu wa Mutharika said the decision was based on humanitarian grounds and that homosexuality was still illegal in the country. He said worldwide criticisms are putting stress on the nation.
    Malawi gay couple sentenced to 14 years in jail
    Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga had been given 14-year jail terms for "gross indecency and unnatural acts" after celebrating their engagement. They were pardoned during a visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

    But a government minister told the BBC the men could be re-arrested if they continued their relationship.

    Gift Trapence, director of the campaign group Centre for the Development of the People (Cedep) which had been supporting the couple, said they had been taken separately to their home villages.

    "The prison authorities told them they had been given instruction from above that they should take them to their respective homes," he told the AFP news agency.

    Mr Trapence said they had been "warmly welcomed by their respective relatives" when they arrived home.

    Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, which protested vehemently over the conviction and sentenced, has welcomed Mutharika’s decision saying it has maintained the strong relationship between the two countries.

    "We welcome the announcement by President Mutharika to pardon Mr Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Mr Steven Monjeza. Britain has a close and strong partnership with Malawi and it is in this spirit that we raised our concerns about these convictions with the Government of Malawi. The UK believes that human rights apply to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity," Read the statement released by the British High Commission in Lilongwe.

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