The State says it is preparing to resurrect a criminal case against three former leaders of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), just after a Lilongwe court threw out arrest warrants issued against them. Prosecutors had secured the warrants earlier this month, accusing Timothy Mtambo, Gift Trapence and McDonald Sembereka of breaching bail conditions linked […]
Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court has cancelled arrest warrants issued against former Human Rights Defenders Coalition leaders Gift Trapence, Timothy Mtambo and Rev MacDonald Sembereka after a dispute over wh ether the criminal case from which they arose was still before the court. Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda ruled in favour of the three activists, […]
The Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court has reserved until 2pm on Thursday its ruling on whether warrants of arrest issued against former Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) leaders Timothy Mtambo, Gift Trapence and Reverend MacDonald Sembereka should be permanently set aside. Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda reserved his decision after the State cross-examined Trapence, one […]
The decision by the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court to temporarily lift arrest warrants against three prominent civil society activists has revived legal questions about a case the State discontinued six years ago. Former Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) leaders Timothy Mtambo, Gift Trapence and Reverend MacDonald Sembereka have secured a temporary reprieve after the […]
Three former leaders of Malawi’s Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) have launched a dramatic court move to stop their arrest, claiming police are pursuing them over a case that was thrown out more than six years ago. Former HRDC chairperson Timothy Mtambo, alongside activists Gift Trapence and McDonald Sembereka, has asked the Chief Resident Magistrate’s […]
Cultural grouping, Chiwanja cha Ayawo, in collaboration with other Malawians in diaspora and within the country, donated overK600 000 to the remnants of the petrol-bombed Tambala family based in Area 24 in the Capital Lilongwe. The donation will help in efforts towards the construction of a home for the remnants–seven children. Towards the fresh presidential […]
Arrested iconic rights activists Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka are in very high spirits in two different police stations the law enforcers are holding them in Blantyre for planning a “citizen’s electoral justice march” to the State House on 25 March. Trapence is being held at Blantyre police station while Sembereka is at Ndirande police […]
Southern Africa Human Defenders Network (SAHRDN) has expressed concern over what it calls “arbitrary arrests” of Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) members Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka in Lilongwe on Sunday. The two were arrested barely hours President Peter Mutharika warned HRDC leaders against plotting anarchy. National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera has issued a statement Monday […]
Malawi police has arrested Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) member Reverend Macdonald Sembereka in Lilongwe barely hours after President Peter Mutharika warned at a political rally in Blantyre that he will deal with the grouping which has announced to stage protests at State House. Sembereka is HRDC Central Region chairperson. He confirmed in a Facebook post […]
Two Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) say they are just waiting for the court to set date for hearing in a case they are accused of swindling UNAIDS K7.4 million. Lawyer for HRDC vice chairperson Gift Trapence and member MacDonald Sembereka says his clients are expected back in court after police refused to drop the […]
Gunmen have attacked the residence of human rights activist Reverend Macdonald Sembereka in the early hours of Monday. Sembereka said the gunmen, who came in a Toyota Sienta vehicle, fired shots in the air before firing some at house gate. He said the five men in camouflage attire, tried to petrol bomb the house. They […]
An influential British broadsheet newspaper says Prince Harry has been urged not to meet Malawi President Peter Mutharika who is accused of violence and vote rigging. The Telegraph newspaper in its online September 28 edition says Prince Harry will “insult” Malawians if he fails to meet with civil society figures after shaking hands with Mutharika […]
Local government and Rural Development minister Ben Phiri has instructed his lawyers to demand an apology from a Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) official over remarks he made linking the minister to a petrol-bomb blast at HRDC chairperson Timothy Mtambo’s house in Area 49 in Lilongwe, damaging his vehicle and part of the house. According […]
The Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Board in Malawi has trashed a letter from the United Nations AIDS Agency (UNAIDS) calling for the immediate release from custody of rights activists Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka, saying such a call is an obstruction to justice especially as it is apparent that the two really have a case to […]
Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Violet Chipawo has granted bail to two human rights activists Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembeleka arrested for alleged fraud after the United Nations (UN) demanded their unconditional release. The State has charged Sembereka with three counts while Trapence is facing four counts. Sembereka is suspected of forgery of official documents, uttering […]
The United Nations (UN) Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) has said there is no need for any legal action against two human rights activists Gift Trapence and Rev MacDonald Sembereka in a K7.4 million ‘purported fraud’ case, crashing the state case against the two. Police arrested Trapence, vice-chairperson of Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) who organised the […]
United Nations (UN) has demanded the release of human rights activists, Reverend McDonald Sembereka and Gift Trapence of the Centre for the Development of People (Cedep), who were arrested on allegation of defrauding K7.4million of UNAids funds. The two activist remanded at Mauwa Prison in Lilongwe are accused of operating an organisation, Mango Key, which […]
Malawi police says the arrest of human rights activists Reverend McDonald Sembereka and Gift Trapence of the Centre for the Development of People (Cedep) are not politically motivated, saying its purely a criminal offence. Human rights activist Billy Mayaya claimed Sembereka and Trapence arrest was political “persecution” aimed at silencing critics of President Peter Mutharika […]