Malawi man arrested for putting up gay rights posters
A Malawi man has been arrested for putting up gay rights posters.
Peter Sawali, 21, was arrested last weekend when he was found putting the posters up on a main road in Blantyre.
The posters, said to be expensively printed, read “gay rights are human rights”.
Mr Sawali will be charged with “conduct likely to cause breach of peace,”, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
If convicted, he may be fined or jailed for up to three months.
Police are investigating how Mr Sawali obtained the posters. They believe he and other gay rights activists in Malawi may be sponsored by international organisations.
The African country has laws prohibiting homosexuality and two men arrested on gross indecency charges in December are still in custody.
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were arrested on December 28th for holding a wedding ceremony.
They have twice been denied bail and face up to 14 years in prison if convicted. They are pleading not guilty to the charges.
Their case is set to resume this week and a simultaneous case has been filed by their lawyers in the constitutional court.
The men’s lawyers are arguing that the prosecution is unconstitutional and have asked for a review of the country’s homosexuality laws.
