US embassy cable - 05LILONGWE274

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000274 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR DAN MOZENA, ADRIENNE GALANEK 
AF/PD FOR CHANTAL DALTON, DAN WHITMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, PGOV, MI, PDEM, Media, President 
SUBJECT: Journalists Charged with "Insulting President" 
 
Ref: Lilongwe 259 
 
1.(SBU)  Journalists Mabvuto Banda and Raphael 
Tenthani, arrested last week for writing stories 
regarding "ghost rats" in State House, were released on 
bail March 17 after being upbraided and threatened with 
re-arrest by Inspector General of Police Mary Nangawale 
for portraying the President in a negative light. 
Rather than dropping the charges, as expected, Director 
of Public Prosecutions Ishmael Wadi charged the two 
today with the offense of "Insulting the President," 
which carries a potential prison term of two years. 
The DPP was asked in a radio interview why Malani 
Mtonga, the generally acknowledged source for the story 
and the President's spiritual advisor, was not charged 
as well.  Wadi responded that while Mtonga may have 
provided the information, he was not involved in 
publishing the story.  There are reports that the 
arrests were made without Mutharika's approval, and a 
source close to the President told PAO that the DPP was 
also not acting at the behest of the President.  PAO 
emphasized that Malawians and the international 
community will believe that these actions reflect 
President Mutharika's policies until he repudiates 
them. 
 
Government Closes Ranks 
----------------------- 
2.(U)  Following the arrests, Minister of Information 
Ken Lipenga castigated the media for poor ethics and a 
lack of professionalism during a conference with 
editors and journalists in Blantyre on March 18.  In 
somewhat more blunt fashion, DPP Wadi sent a press 
release to media houses threatening to prosecute any 
journalist alleged to have violated any provision of 
Malawi's Kamuzu Banda-era sedition statutes.  The 
Democratus, a newspaper widely acknowledged to be owned 
by Mutharika, reprinted the press release in a full 
page ad.  The release cites the sedition act, which 
forbids any article or statement that might "bring into 
hatred or contempt or excite disaffection against the 
person of the President," and carries a sentence of 7 
years.  The offence of insulting the President, which 
Banda and Tenthani now face, was defined as uttering 
"any words...or publish[ing] any writing calculated to 
insult or to show disrespect to...the President."  The 
press release underscored the penalties for these 
violations, which may have a somewhat chilling effect 
on journalists tempted to write ghost stories, or 
anything else that might be critical of the regime, no 
matter how well-sourced. 
 
3.(SBU)  Comment: The Government's recent actions, 
rather than backpedaling from a rash decision to arrest 
journalist, appear to many to be a deliberate attempt 
to limit press freedoms in Malawi.  While they may not 
reflect the coordinated policy of his Government, 
President Mutharika's ongoing silence does nothing to 
dispel that belief.   Besides alienating many of those 
who previously supported his reform platform, this 
contretemps has provided a potent weapon to Mutharika's 
political opponents, who can now claim that his 
government is resurrecting the laws--and undemocratic 
practices--of the Banda police state.  End Comment.