Thandizani Newspaper Yanu
Gay rights activist convicted
BLANTYRE--A 21-year-old man Malawian found hanging gay rights posters in townships and along the main highway of the commercial capital Blantyre has been convicted and sentenced to community service, court officials confirmed on Monday. The officials said Peter Sawali, who was arrested last week on Saturday night after a public tip-off, was sentenced by a Blantyre magistrate court after he pleaded guilty to an offence likely to cause breach of peace. On his arrest, Sawali claimed he was fighting for gay rights after he was found with a bag full of posters which proclaimed "gay rights are human rights." Homosexuality is illegal and punishable with a maximum jail term of 14 years in the conservative southern African nation. Malawi is prosecuting the newly-wed gay couple charged with "gross indecency". Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested on December 28 in Malawi's commercial capital Blantyre for holding the country's first public same-sex wedding. The two have pleaded not guilty to the charge but are still in police custody after a magistrate and high court denied them bail. The men have appealed to the Constitutional Court to hear their case.--maravipost.
