What an incredible turnaround, a pardon from a 14 year prison sentence at hard labor. I don't doubt the pardon came on the heels on pressure from the international community and threats to the funding that Malawi heavily depends on. After all, if it's true that the men were pardoned as an act of humanitarianism, as claimed by Malawi government spokesmen, then why cannot that sense of humanitarianism be extended to all the other gays in Malawi and the witch hunt mentality so prevalent there today be ended?
2 gay men spared 14-year sentence in MalawiThe president of Malawi has pardoned two gay men who were sentenced to 14 years in prison this month for gross indecency and unnatural acts, the country's solicitor general, Anthony Kamanga, said Saturday.
President Bingu wa Mutharika announced his pardon of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga after meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Kamanga said.
Authorities arrested Monjeza and Chimbalanga in December at their home in Blantyre, Malawi after the couple professed their love in a traditional engagement ceremony. Police discovered the couple when local newspapers reported on their engagement ceremony.
The criminal case against them cast a light on prevailing African attitudes toward homosexuality, which is outlawed in more than 30 nations on the continent.
Some in the conservative southern African nation of Malawi supported the prosecution, and government officials have said they were simply upholding the law. Human rights groups and advocates for gays and lesbians argued that the arrests violated Malawi's constitution, which outlaws discrimination.
Monjeza and Chimbalanga are in their 20s.
While they were awaiting trial, they were subjected to medical examinations intended to find evidence of sodomy, according to Human Rights Watch. They also underwent psychiatric evaluations. All the exams were done without the men's consent, the group said.
The director of an organization that helped provide legal support to the couple, Gift Trapence of the Center for the Development of People, welcomed the news.
The president's decision provides an example to African governments and the world in general, he said.
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