Human rights campaigners attack Malawi gay couple conviction

Dan82 · May 18, 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/18/malawi-gay-couple-jailed

A couple in Malawi were today found guilty of gay sex, a crime under laws dating from the colonial era, in a judgment that campaigners warn could set back human rights across Africa.

Steven Monjeza, 26, and 20-year-old Tiwonge Chimbalanga were convicted of unnatural acts and gross indecency, prompting anger and condemnation from activists in Malawi and around the world. The couple, who will learn their sentence on Thursday, could be jailed for up to 14 years with hard labour.

Monjeza and Chimbalanga became Malawi's first same-sex couple to commit publicly to marriage at a symbolic ceremony last December. They were arrested two days later and detained in harsh conditions. Homosexuality in Malawi is outlawed and remains deeply taboo.

Delivering judgment in Blantyre today, magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa found the couple guilty of buggery – which he described as "against the order of nature". He added: "I find the evidence so strong against the two. The state proved the case beyond reasonable doubt."

Police prosecutor Barbra Mchenga asked the magistrate to mete out a harsh punishment because the couple had left a "scar on morality" in Malawi. "They showed no remorse, they showed no regret of their action," Mchenga said. "They seemed to have been proud of their action...
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British Lad · May 18, 2010

How I would Like to drive a tank Right up The judges arse and tell him what for, we just need to do it guns blazing and wipe the homophobes out.

Human rights campaigners attack Malawi gay couple conviction

Dan82
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Human rights campaigners attack Malawi gay couple conviction

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