Journalist arrested over fraud story
Police in Malawi have arrested a newspaper
journalist over an online story published last year exposing fraudulent
activities involving a corruption suspect charged with conspiracy to defraud
the Malawi government.
The journalist, Macmillan Mhone, who works
for the daily Nation Newspaper in Blantyre, was arrested
Monday following the story he allegedly wrote in August of last year when he
was working for the online publication Malawi24. The story exposed fraudulent activities
involving corruption suspect Abdul Karim Batatawala, who was charged with
conspiracy to defraud the Malawi government.
Mhone's lawyer, Joseph Lihoma, told VOA on
Tuesday that Mhone was yet to be charged.
Mhone's preliminary charges include conduct
likely to cause breach of peace and cause public alarm.
The arrest comes two months after another
local investigative journalist, Gregory Gondwe, went into hiding following a
tip from military sources about plans to arrest him for writing a story about corruption
in the military.
Several press freedom advocates and human
rights campaigners, including the Committee for Protection of Journalists and
the Media Institute for Southern Africa — known as MISA-MALAWI — have condemned
Mhone's arrest.
Golden Matonga, the chairperson for the Media
Institute for Southern Africa in Malawi, called on police to release the
journalist without conditions.
"Malawi is one of [the] beacons of hope
for democracy," said Mantonga. "To see this backsliding of our
democracy is saddening for us in the journalism profession and also for
everyone who wished our democracy to continue to grow."
In a statement, MISA-Malawi also said the
story in question does not cause fear or public alarm.
Pearson Nkhoma, the director of the board of
the online publication Malawi24, where the story was published, said police
have arrested Mhone based on wrong information because he never wrote the
story.
"If anyone has a screenshot indicating
that Macmillan has the byline, then those people are basically lying," he
said.
Nkhoma said it is surprising that police have
arrested someone who no longer works for Malawi24 on the matter concerning the
publication.
VOA did not get a comment from the police
because calls to the national police spokesperson went unanswered.
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