Law society condemns mob justice
The Malawi Law Society (MLS) has condemned acts of mob justice being executed on suspects in some parts of the country, saying every person is innocent until proven guilty by a competent court; hence, people should not take the law into their hands.
MLS president Mandala Mambulasa said this in an interview on Wednesday.
The recent reported mob justice includes the killing of a suspected thief in Lilongwe’s Area 36 where a man allegedly wanted to break into a car to steal some accessories.
Mambulasa said: “We condemn the mob justice that has been reported in a number of places in the country. This is very unfortunate because no any individual has powers to punish another person who has committed a crime.
“There are institutions that are mandated by law to give punishment to people who have been proven guilty by the courts. Suspects should be taken to police to allow them do their job. As a nation, we are governed by laws; hence, nobody can just wake up and punish another person.”
Mambulasa said there is nothing wrong for people to catch an alleged thief, but they should always hand over the suspect to police.
He also said the suspect can be taken straight to court if people do not trust the police.
“Some people try to justify mob justice by saying they don’t trust police, but still mob justice is not acceptable in this way. If they do not trust the police, they can also bring the suspect straight to their nearest court. This is possible and court will pass judgment accordingly,” said Mambulasa.
He also urged police to be responsive in their duty, arguing sometimes people resort to mob justice because police delay to attend to a complaint.
“Police should also show actions by arresting mob justice perpetrators so that other people should learn that mob justice is not accepted in this country,” he said.
