Malawi gay couple to face court after engagement
Two gay men in Malawi, after he accused were arrested committed gross Public indecency, police said.
We stopped because he had committed a crime, said homosexuality is illegal in Malawi, the spokesman Davie Chingwalu Police told the BBC.
Make Monjeza Steven Tiwonge Chimbalanga and instead of a traditional commitment ceremony this weekend – probably the first gay couple to Malawi.
Homosexuality a maximum sentence of 14 years in Malawi.
The couple held in separate cells in Blantyre, to negotiate his case, said Chingwalu public broadcaster the BBC’s Africa Program.
Raphael Tenthani of the BBC in Blantyre, said the couple had been seen relaxing at the police station with Mr. Tiwonge even with the dress I wore to celebrate the engagement.
He said he might spend a few nights in jail as the judiciary is on vacation for Christmas and not only on Monday to appear in court.
Our correspondent says that Malawi is a deeply conservative society, but recently a group of activists together to form an organization of gay rights, Center for Development of People (CEDEP).
CEDEP Executive Director, Gifts Trapence, says the laws of arrest, the couple are not valid, because they are against the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution of 1995.
Even if we arrest them, or may not change the fees for 20 years, their sexual orientation. They are what they are, he told the BBC.
The question is therefore, in an era of democracy – the detention of persons who satisfy their sexual orientation is not the basic human rights of these people? He said.
Correspondents say that some voices in the government have also begun to demand greater openness to homosexuality as the authorities try to cope with high HIV / AIDS.