Rights activists granted bail: Malawi court impose gagging conditions
Lilongwe Magistrate Court has grated bail three prominent human rights activists who were detained this week for planning to hold protests aimed at shutting down presidential residences.
Two members of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) — vice chairperson Gift Trapence and member Macdonald Sembereka — were arrested Sunday after saying they would organize demonstrations and HRDC chairperson Timothy Mtambo who surrendered to police Tuesday, were on Thursday ordered to pay a cashbond of K200 000 each and non cash surety of K2 million each.
Further, Chief Resident Magistrate Violet Chipao ordered the three to be reporting to police headquarters at Area 30 in Lilongwe every Friday.
Among the bail conditions is that the three activists should surrender all their travel documents.
But an interesting condition deeming gaging order is that the activists have been ordered “not to disturb the peace or incite others to do so of the State Houses.”
Disturbing the peace, also known as breach of the peace, is a criminal offense that occurs when a person engages in some form of unruly public behavior, such as fighting or causing excessively loud noise. When a person’s words or conduct jeopardizes another person’s right to peace and tranquility, he or she may be charged with disturbing the peace.
This conditions is deemed gagging to silence Mtambo, Trapence and Sembereka who face charges of inciting people to close state residences, under Section 124 of the Penal Code.
The international human rights body Amnesty International said the arrests are a government attempt to crack down on dissenting views.
The HRDC members were planning to pressure President Peter Mutharika to sign electoral reform bills paving the way for fresh elections after Malawi’s constitutional court nullified last May’s polls. The court cited massive irregularities in the vote, which saw Mutharika reelected.
The electoral bills propose a date for fresh elections and procedures to follow in case of runoffs.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
So simple kumabungwe kwaoko ali ndi ma deputy I hope. Izi auzidwa as individuals not as an organisation
Are your senses right when you call this thug mtambo a human rights activist? What kind of alcohol are you taking? Don’t you know that mtambo is now worse that a terrorist? Chimutu chimenechija chingakhale cha activist. Oooo shame!
Koma akumpoto adzingokhala pambuyo kumapelekela matope basi Zolamula alikutaaali chifukwa chopanda khalidwe ndikudzikonda komanso kaduka
Who cares about kulamula? Even if inuyo aku mwera kukupatsani mpata wolamura mkukanikatso so we better try central than u southerners as u have failed big time since multiparty democracy nothing tangible to show.
Only knowing corruption, nepotism and killing albinos .
Bolatso Joyce Banda managed to transform Malawi when it was about to collapse to its knees.
This man Mtambo is more popular than the president. he has more likes on FB than any government official because he is fighting for people.
He is not… Not all the people in malawi are using fb or whatsoever…
Zoona zokhazokha
Mtambo does not fight for all Malawians no. He has a contract with MCP and UTM to disturbilise our Malawi.
He is cashing on this misbehavior. Not all Malawians like what Mtambo is doing in our country.
i am a lomwe from maonga village thyolo koma sinto gwilizananazo zikuchitikazi.ndizopusa anthu amene mukungosapota DPP chifukwa ndinu a ku lomwe belt you are not doing us good.
Phweeeeeeee 🦆
Muona azinzawo a za.malamulo awapangira back..kuononga malawi wa ana anu mu dzina lomenyera ufulu..how.many freedom wars are.we.going to fight in malawi?
as long as we aim at removing notorious Peter Mutharika and the DPP thugs from power, who cares??????????????????????
That’s what we were saying in 1993. “We want change, we want change, we want change; ndatopa ndi kongelesi. Nkhalambayi ( Kamuzuyj) ndatopa nayo”. Lero ndi izi! Mawa zidzakhalanso chomwechi.
Agwa nayonso ku Supreme court.
Not to disturb the peace or incite the others to do so of (at) the state houses. The restrictions are at state houses only……….
Not peace at state house only but take the key word “PEACE”. So if they want demos they should do as what DPP are doing peacefully with all shops open, motorists travelling, etc that how things ought to be done my friend!
What a shame to the DPP regime for the sheer attempt to subjugate the Human rights activists.
The more the DPP government is doing all of this to them, the louder are the voices of the Mtambos, Semberekas, Trepences, and of us all Malawians.
They are unstoppable, and soon and very soon, the fruits of their painful struggle to emancipate the majority of Malawians who are living in immesuarable levels of social and economical dilapidation will be ripen and harvested.
To God Almighty Be The Glory, and let Malawi be free at last.
Viva Malawi Viva!
Even if they can give him the who battalion, he know deep down his heart that has been strip of power to be the vice president
noone can stop change
Mcp district governor released on bail
No more demos
Demos will never stop…so many groups who loves Malawi will do demos…
Demos have to be done as long as a significant part of our society disagrees with their leader or puplic officials!
Malawi 2020 have reached a all time low! We are longing for all for a change!
mwachidule tinene kuti court lakaniza ma DEMO aku state house omwe Mtumbo amati apangabe aja eti? timvanetu bwino bwino pamenepa atumbuka azanga paja muli ndi nyere ndi zinthu kkkkkkkkkkkk
Other activists apart from the three can organize, they have already been vocal while the three were under police custody. No work done!!!!! Change is unstoppable!!!
not other activists.But other stupid Tumbukas will be used by opposition to march and disturb the nation then dumped like a used Condom when MCP get into Power
Even hiring foreign lawyers or the South African Constitutional Court judges cannot stop this ferocious Malawi political winds of change!
Go and organise.
They can be arrested too