BY.Mabvuto Kambuwe,Africanewsreporter in lilongwe.
President Bingu Wa Mutharika on Saturday announced the Pardons of the gay couples who were jailed to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour.
The president made the decision after discussing with the visiting UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon .
Mutharika who is also the chairperson of the African Union [AU] has ordered the immediate release of the gay couple.
“I have decided that with effect from today that Tionge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza be pardoned and be released “ he told a group of journalist after meeting the UN boss.
The two were given 14 years jail term after being convicted of indecency and unnatural acts.
They were sentenced by the Blantyre Magistrate court after magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa told them that they will serve 14 years jail term with hard labour as a warning to other gay people in the country.
“However as the head of state I hereby pardons them and therefore ask for their immediate release without conditions attached . I have done this on humanitarian grounds and that does not mean I support this” Mutharika said.
The release of the gay couple comes after the country faced a lot international condemnation and about issues of homosexuality in the country.
Mean while the UN boss is expected to leave Malawi tomorrow for Uganda as part of his tour in Africa, he was visiting Malawi for the first time.