Malawai: Gay Couple to Be Charged March 22nd

A gay couple jailed for holding a same-sex wedding in Malawi will be sentenced on charges of "gross indecency" next month. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were denied bail in January and it was confirmed on Thursday that they will return to court on 22 March.

Homosexuality is banned in Malawi and the couple face a maximum sentence of 14 years' imprisonment for holding a symbolic wedding ceremony in December.

Authorities in the conservative southern African country have launched a crackdown on homosexuals in the past few weeks. On Monday police spokesman Dave Chingwalu said a 60-year-old man was arrested and charged with sodomy.

Full Story from RFI
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Malawai: Catch 22: Being Anonymous Illegal, But So Is Being Open About Gay Rights

The Malawi authorities have told gay activists who put up posters and distribute leaflets on the streets anonymously to "come out in the open". Government official Kingsley Namakhwa said it was against the law to mount such campaigns anonymously. But he also pointed out that homosexuality was illegal, and anyone promoting it would be prosecuted.

Rights groups have recently criticised Malawi for prosecuting two men who got engaged to each other.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the marriage process, have pleaded not guilty to charges of public indecency. Their trial is due to start soon.

Full Story from BBC News
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Malawi: Update on Engaged Gay Couple on Trial

In Malawi, two men who dared to go public with their relationship by holding a traditional "marriage" ceremony are on trial for indecency, and face 14 years in jail. "It's so scary," one gay man, who didn't want to be identified, told Sky News in the city of Blantyre, where the trial is taking place.

"We are not feeling free and are worried about being arrested. It is the first case to be brought under Malawi's longstanding legislation banning homosexuality in years.

The rise of US style evangelist preachers has contributed to a hardening of attitudes in the tiny southern African state.

Full Story from Sky News
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Malawi: Update on Gay Couple Imprisoned After Engagement

The traditional engagement ceremony of two men on Dec. 26, 2009 has created controversy in conservative Malawi. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested two days after their engagement and remain in police custody, facing long jail terms. A traditional engagement in Malawi counts as a civil marriage and is recognised as such throughout the country. Chimbalanga and Monjeza are the first gay couple to declare their sexual orientation in this manner. The couple is facing charges of "gross indecency" and buggery for "having carnal knowledge against the order of nature", offences under Malawi's colonial-era penal code.

 Arrest condemned: Following their arrest, local human rights activists, civil society organisations and international human rights organisations condemned the government. Amnesty International criticised the arrest and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the couple from police custody. Amnesty accuses Malawi of criminalising homosexuality, gender identity and the couple's legitimate exercise of their rights. Full Story from IPS

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Malawi: Gay Couple to Be Tried on January 15th

A Malawian court yesterday refused bail to two men who celebrated their engagement to be married in a traditional African ceremony, which they held late last year. Giving his ruling at a court in the city of Blantyre on Monday January 4, judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa claimed Steven Monjeza (26) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (20) were at risk of mob violence and would be safer in custody – a claim rejected by the defendants and their lawyers. In Malawi, even people accused of serious crimes like violent robbery and assault usually get bail. The same day the police arrested a worker from the human rights group CEDEP, which assisted the detained men and secured them legal representation. Full Story from UK Gay News: http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/10/Jan/0501.htm

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Malawi: Gay Couple Denied Bail

Two gay Malawian men charged with gross public indecency after getting engaged have been remanded in custody until their trial starts next week. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested last month at the home they share in the city of Blantyre. 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. Prosecutors have said they would send the pair to hospital to prove they have had sex together but their lawyers say he will resist this. Full Story from BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8439918.stm

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Malawi: Gay Couple Beaten in Prison, May Break Up

Since they became the first openly gay couple in Malawi to be engaged, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza have been arrested, put in prison and charged with offences that could lead to a 14-year jail sentence. Between true love and gay martyrdom, however, is the brutal reality of life in a Malawi prison. Yesterday, in their first interview since being jailed, the pair claimed that they had been beaten in prison, and demanded to go to court to prove their innocence. While Mr Chimbalanga, 20, who dresses as a woman, spoke defiantly of his love for the man he plans to marry, Mr Monjeza, 22, said that he was “drunk” when they met and was considering ending their engagement. The couple, who denied three charges of unnatural practices between males and gross indecency, performed a public engagement ceremony in front of 500 onlookers last weekend. They were arrested two days later. Full Story from the Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6974678.ece

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Malawi: Engaged Couple May Be "Tested" To See if They Had Sex

The first gay couple to marry in Malawi face a humiliating medical examination aimed at proving they have had sexual relations, it emerged today. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza could be sentenced to 14 years in prison if found guilty of "unnatural practices between males". Gay rights campaigners reacted angrily to the men's treatment and warned that a renewed trend of homophobia was sweeping Africa. Chimbalanga, 20, and 26-year-old Monjeza made history when they committed to marriage at a symbolic ceremony last weekend – the first same-sex couple to do so in the southern African state, in which homosexual acts are illegal. Full Story from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/01/malawi-gay-couple-married-test

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Malawi: Gay Marriage Was Actually an Engagement - Local Reporting

That "gay wedding" in Malawi, that featured two men (one dressed as a woman) who were promptly arrested on public indecency charges, was not a marriage ceremony at all. A reader wiser than we (and, apparently, Reuters) points out that guests actually attended a chinkhoswe, or a traditional engagement ceremony. At such an event, "usually, the couple is presented to the community, gifts are presented, and so forth," writes reader John, an American living in Malawi. His location helps, as he was able to offer these scans of the front page of Monday's The Nation newspaper, which reported on Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjez's engagement on its frontpage. Notes John: "The Nation, one of two daily papers in Malawi, published a front-page article on Monday (the chinkhoswe was on Saturday) with the headline 'GAYS ENGAGE.' I've attached the whole article, which includes a photo. The first thing one notices, looking at the accompanying picture: one of the two men, Tiwonge, is clearly dressed as a woman, makeup included. Although the masculine "he" is used throughout the article, Tiwonge is consistently referred to as the bride, while Steven is the bridegroom. This is not simply ignorant reporting; Tiwonge, according to the article, self-identifies as a woman. Full Story from Qyeerty: http://www.queerty.com/that-married-couple-from-malawi-was-actually-just-celebrating-an-engagement-still-illegal-though-20091230/

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Malawi: Gay Couple Arrested After Wedding

Two gay men arrested in Malawi after getting engaged have pleaded not guilty to charges of gross public indecency. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza appeared at a packed court in Malawi's biggest city Blantyre, where they will ask for bail on Monday. The pair held a traditional engagement ceremony over the weekend - believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the process of getting married. Homosexual acts carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in Malawi. Full Story from BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8434743.stm

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Malawi: Gay Couple Risks Imprisonment to Get Married

Two Malawian men became the first gay couple to publicly tie the knot, the Nation newspaper reported on Monday, risking arrest in the conservative southern African state where homosexuality is illegal. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were married in a traditional but symbolic ceremony in southern Malawi on Saturday, attracting hundreds of curious onlookers. "We met at church where we both pray and we have been together for the last five months ... I have never been interested in a woman," Monjeza told The Nation newspaper. Homosexuality is banned in Malawi and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. Full Story from Reuters: http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE5BR09520091228

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Calls for Gay Marriage in Malawi Sign of Moral Failing, Religious Leader Says

Calls by some non-government organizations to allow same-sex marriages in Malawi as one way of fighting HIV/AIDS is a sign that the country has lost its morality, a Pentecostal leader in the country has said. Full Story from ENI: http://www.eni.ch/news/item.php?id=3412

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