Malawi Court Orders 'Newly-wed' Gays to Stay in Jail
Wed Dec 30, 2009
BLANTYRE (AFP) – A Malawian court Wednesday ordered a gay couple arrested at the weekend for holding the country's first same-sex public wedding ceremony to stay in jail for a further police probe.
"I want the two to remain in custody for police to make thorough investigations," police prosecutor Dickens Mwambazi told the court.
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, the first Malawian gays to publicly wed in a symbolic ceremony on Saturday appeared before a magistrate in a packed courtroom in the commercial capital Blantyre.
The couple is facing three counts bordering on "indecent practices" and they both pleaded not guilty.
Mawiya Msuku, one of the two lawyers who represent the couple, argued that there was no justification for police to continue holding them in custody.
"On humanitarian grounds we ask the court to give the two persons bail," he said.
However the magistrate ordered that the two remain in custody to allow police conclude investigations into a five-month love affair that has shocked the conservative nation where homosexuality is banned.
Sex topics are still largely taboo in the southern African country.
The two arrived handcuffed at the court amid heavy police security as an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 500 people, with some waving branches, jostled with police and scores of journalists and photographers to enter the tiny courtroom in the centre of town.
Chimbalanga appeared relaxed and calm, waving to the crowd. Monjeza appeared dejected and his face crestfallen.
A commotion continued as the couple was led out of the court by six police officers to waiting vehicles.
Some, who appeared to be supporters of the couple, waved tree branches and chanted "Woyera! woyera!"--meaning "white wedding", "white wedding." The hearing will continue on January 4, the magistrate said.
If convicted, the couple face up to a maximum of 14 years in jail as Malawi's penal code outlaws homosexuality and sodomy.
The government does however recognise the existence of gays in Malawi and often calls on them to come out in order to help in the fight against the AIDS pandemic.
Wed Dec 30, 2009
BLANTYRE (AFP) – A Malawian court Wednesday ordered a gay couple arrested at the weekend for holding the country's first same-sex public wedding ceremony to stay in jail for a further police probe.
"I want the two to remain in custody for police to make thorough investigations," police prosecutor Dickens Mwambazi told the court.
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, the first Malawian gays to publicly wed in a symbolic ceremony on Saturday appeared before a magistrate in a packed courtroom in the commercial capital Blantyre.
The couple is facing three counts bordering on "indecent practices" and they both pleaded not guilty.
Mawiya Msuku, one of the two lawyers who represent the couple, argued that there was no justification for police to continue holding them in custody.
"On humanitarian grounds we ask the court to give the two persons bail," he said.
However the magistrate ordered that the two remain in custody to allow police conclude investigations into a five-month love affair that has shocked the conservative nation where homosexuality is banned.
Sex topics are still largely taboo in the southern African country.
The two arrived handcuffed at the court amid heavy police security as an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 500 people, with some waving branches, jostled with police and scores of journalists and photographers to enter the tiny courtroom in the centre of town.
Chimbalanga appeared relaxed and calm, waving to the crowd. Monjeza appeared dejected and his face crestfallen.
A commotion continued as the couple was led out of the court by six police officers to waiting vehicles.
Some, who appeared to be supporters of the couple, waved tree branches and chanted "Woyera! woyera!"--meaning "white wedding", "white wedding." The hearing will continue on January 4, the magistrate said.
If convicted, the couple face up to a maximum of 14 years in jail as Malawi's penal code outlaws homosexuality and sodomy.
The government does however recognise the existence of gays in Malawi and often calls on them to come out in order to help in the fight against the AIDS pandemic.
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"A lifed in fear is a life half-lived..."
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