A gay Malawian couple sentenced to 14 years hard labor for getting engaged have been pardoned after the intervention of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In a high-profile case that attracted international opprobrium toward the southern African country, Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested after celebrating their engagement in a traditional ceremony in late December. The men were jailed after being convicted of “gross indecency and unnatural acts” under the country’s strict laws.
“These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws,” Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika said after meeting Ban on Saturday.
“However, as the head of state, I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions. I have done this on humanitarian grounds but this does not mean that I support this,” he said.
Homosexuality in Africa has become a contentious issue in recent months, with the arrest in Malawi, a raid in Kenya on a gay wedding and a Ugandan lawmaker proposing a bill with the death penalty for some offences. Homosexuality is illegal in at least 37 countries in Africa, including Malawi.
The sentencing was condemned by Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa — one of few African countries to have a law allowing same sex marriage.
Ban, who was scheduled to address the Malawian National Assembly later, is expected to ask the legislators in Malawi to change the laws on homosexuality. Chimbalanga, a hotel janitor, and Monjeza, who is unemployed, were tried and found guilty of sodomy and indecency this month in a trial viewed as a test case for gay rights in the country.
After sentencing, the two men were sent to separate jails — Chimbalanga was being held at a Blantyre jail, while Monjeza was being held at a prison some 80km away.
The case had attracted widespread international rebukes for Malawi. The British government, Malawi’s largest donor, expressed its “dismay” at the sentences while the US State Department described the case as “a step backwards in the protection of human rights in Malawi.”
At the time of the sentencing, the judge said he did not believe Malawi was ready “to see its sons getting married to other sons or conducting engagement ceremonies.”
Ban praised Mutharika’s decision, but added: “It is unfortunate that laws criminalize people based on sexuality. Laws that criminalize sexuality should be repealed.”
Joseph Amon of Human Rights Watch said the president had responded to the outcry that greeted the conviction.
“I hope other leaders of African countries with anti-gay laws see this is not acceptable in the international community,” he said.
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