Court sends 4 to jail for Bata shoe shop break during protests

A court in Mzuzu has sentenced four men to six years imprisonment with hard labour for breaking and looting into a Bata Shoe company shop during the anti-Jane Ansah protests.

The Mzuzu magistrates’ court heard that the company lost K9.5 million in the process as the thugs masquerading as protestors looted the shop.

However, senior resident magistrate Godfrey Nyirenda acquitted the other two suspects.

Police arrested 11 people in connection with the breaking and looting of the shop in Mzuzu during the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) sanctioned protests.

The four convicts are Moses Zqala, 20, Rodgers Chavula, 24, Bernard Sibale, 22 and Aubrey Mkandawire, 24 all from Mzimba except Sibale who comes from Rumphi.