MALAWI: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon applauds Presidential pardon of gay couple sentenced to 14 years

Record ID: 277189

  • Title: MALAWI: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon applauds Presidential pardon of gay couple sentenced to 14 years
  • Date: 30th May 2010
  • Summary: LILONGWE, MALAWI (MAY 29, 2010) (REUTERS) PLANE CARRYING UN SECRETARY GENERAL TOUCHING DOWN AT KAMUZU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT MALAWI VICE PRESIDENT WITH UN AGENCY OFFICIAL WAITING FOR UN SECRETARY GENERAL. VARIOUS OF UN SECRETARY GENERAL DISEMBARKING FROM HIS PLANE VARIOUS OF UN SECRETARY GENERAL GREETING UN AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL VARIOUS OF UN SECRETARY GENERAL'S CON
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malawi
  • Country: Malawi
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9QCMZ7RCGTBFH6V408SN681IP
  • Story Text: Malawi's leader Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned a gay couple from a 14-year prison term on Saturday (May 29) after a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who applauded the move and urged the country to amend "outdated" laws on homosexuality.
    "In all aspects of reasoning, in all aspect of human understanding, these two gay boys were wrong, totally wrong. I want you to understand. However, now that they have been sentenced, I as the president of this country have the powers to pronounce on them," President Bingu wa Mutharika said.
    Major donors to aid-dependent Malawi had condemned the jail sentence as an abuse of human rights and warned that this could affect support for Malawi's budget. The United States had called the decision "unconscionable".
    "It is unfortunate that laws which criminalize people on the basis of sexual orientation still exist in some countries. This outdated penal code should be reformed," Ban Ki-moon said.
    "I highly commend your leadership, your courageous political decision," he added.
    The Malawian couple, Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested after celebrating their engagement in a traditional ceremony in late December.
    They were tried and found guilty earlier this month of sodomy and indecency. The trial became a test case for gay rights in the southern African country.
    Ban said he was upset that his visit had been overshadowed in the media by recent cases in Malawi and Uganda where "homosexuals have been persecuted and prosecuted".
    The sentence was also condemned by South African President Jacob Zuma, a Zulu traditionalist, in a rare rebuke of a fellow African nation.
    The White House welcomed the pardoning.
    Homosexuality in Africa has become a contentious issue of late after a Ugandan lawmaker proposed a bill including the death penalty for some acts, police raided a gay wedding in Kenya, and the Malawian couple were arrested.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register