Judiciary protests verbal attacks

The Magistrates and Judges Association of Malawi has condemned verbal attacks against judicial officers as criminal and unacceptable in a democratic society.

The association has made its position in a statement issued yesterday signed by its president Howard Pemba and secretary general Peter Kandulu following a viral voice clip purported of Ben Longwe inciting mob justice against judicial officers due to decisions made on certain cases.

Reads part of the statement: “Such attacks and threats infringe and seriously undermine the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, which is fortified under the Republican Constitution.

“Judicial officers take an oath to work without fear or favour and their decisions are not supposed to be influenced by any other organ or individual. Any attempts at doing so amount to a contravention of the Republican Constitution.”

The voice clip comes against a background of two similar court cases where the convicts were handed different punishments.

But the association has stressed that the law provides for redress to any aggrieved party by any decision made by the courts.

The association is of the view that any dissatisfied party to such court outcomes should either apply for a review at the High Court of Malawi or the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.

According to the statement, the association has also pointed out that the judiciary has laid down mechanisms for handling complaints against judicial officers.

Further reads the statement: “There is the Complaints Management Committee and the Institutional Integrity Committee, which have the responsibility to receive and resolve general and complaints relating to corruption respectively.

“The general public should therefore be informed that they can report to these committees if there are any reasonable suspicions of corruption or any irregularities and, or misconduct done by judicial officers.”

Deputy National Police spokesperson Harry Namwaza in a statement on Wednesday also condemned Longwe’s purported voice clip and further assured judicial officers of continued security.

He urged Malawians to disregard the call made by Longwe in the purported voice clip to perpetrate any forms of violence against the judicial officers.