Malawi gay wedding couple lose bail appeal

[ccharles000]

A Malawian judge has rejected a bail application by two gay men charged with public indecency after getting engaged.

Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa said Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza would be safer in custody while they wait their trial - expected to start next week.

The pair, believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the process of getting married, pleaded not guilty to the charges last week.

Homosexual acts carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in Malawi.

Denying them bail, Mr Usiwa-Usiwa said: "The accused have the right to bail but considering the public interest their case has generated it is the view of the court that they are safer in police custody than out there."

He said the pair would be given bail on 10 January if prosecutors had not finished investigating by then.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8439918.stm

[alp227]

1. The prosecutors should procrastinate on this so that the men can bail.

Meanwhile, as prosecutors in Malawi continue sitting around the office gay-bashing and deciding the gay couple's sentence, someone in Malawi who's really the victim of a robbery or murder is denied justice. Maybe they should just drop this altogether.

"the first gay couple in Malawi to start the process of getting married"? Why is that? Because Africa is such a homophobic place that the gay/lesbian couples are forced to follow the social status quo.