Africa-Press – Malawi. MISA Malawi, the country’s media right body has asked Malawi Police Service (MPS) to immediately released The Maravi Post online paper reporter Dorica Mtenje on petty detention which could the matter be resolved mutually
This follows the Police in Lilongwe on Thursday, February 9,2023, detained Dorica Mtenje, a reporter for an online publication Maravi Post, over a story published last month.
Mtenje is being held at the Malawi Police Service (MPS) headquarters in Lilongwe. She denies authoring nor publishing the story in question. The police have also summoned Maravi Post Country Director Lloyd M’bwana for questioning over the same.
MISA Malawi engaged the police over the issue during which the MPS National Spokesperson Peter Kalaya said the police ‘invited’ Mtenje and M’bwana, journalists connected to the publication, as part of their investigation on the alleged ‘fake story’ that Maravi Post published.
Kalaya said the police were only acting on a complaint by the National Intelligence Service Director. According to Kalaya, the content of the story contravenes Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act and they are just enforcing the law.
MISA Malawi has been advocating for civil remedies in issues of defamation as opposed to criminal defamation remedies that the country is following. We therefore call on both the complainant to withdraw the criminal defamation complaint and the police to release the detained journalist.
MISA Malawi is monitoring the situation and will be providing updates as events unfold. Currently, Mtenje is being held at Lingadzi Police Station in the capital Lilongwe despite all attempts to resolve the matter. The said article was to do with National Intelligence Services (NIB) Director General Dokani Ngwira’s incompetence at the institution.
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