Steven Monjeza And Tiwonge Chimbalanga Freed

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika Saturday pardoned Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga Saturday, the gay couple convicted of unnatural acts and gross indecency, and sentenced to 14 years in prison with hard labour, the maximum sentence allowed. Mutharika made the surprising announcement after meeting with the United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. “These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws: however, as head of state I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions,” President Mutharika said. He added that “I have done this on humanitarian grounds but this does not mean that I support this,” presumably “this” meaning homosexuality, Mutharika having called homosexuality “evil and bad before the eyes of God.” Mr. Ban is scheduled to address Malawi’s National Assembly later Saturday, and is at that time expected to ask legislators to change the laws of homosexuality.