In a telephone interview on Sunday, Muluzi said Atupele reported to him that police officers at Lumbadzi Police Station in Lilongwe—where he was detained overnight last Tuesday—beat up suspects in his full view and warned him he could also face it.
Muluzi said: “He [Atupele] reported to me that suspects bled and cried on top of their voices following the severe beatings. I call upon the Malawi Human Rights Commission and civil society groups to seriously investigate this.
“The Constitution does not allow the beating of suspects. Beatings in a democratic society should never be used as a means of obtaining confessions. I believe this is not happening at Lumbadzi only, but in many police stations across the nation.â€
Muluzi said Atupele, who was arrested last Tuesday in connection with the violence that erupted at a UDF rally in Lilongwe’s Area 24 where police and residents clashed, was put in a dark and mosquito-infested cell where he was alone.
‘Development sad’
MHRC executive secretary Grace Malera, in an interview on Sunday, said if what Atupele reported was true, it was a sad development and appealed to victims of the police brutality or their relations to immediately report that to the commission.
Atupele, who is Machinga North East Member of Parliament, in a separate interview on Sunday from his hospital bed at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre, confirmed witnessing the beatings.
But national police spokesperson Davie Chingwalu disputed Atupele’s claims, arguing the legislator could say anything to implicate police.
Muluzi cut short his medical treatment in South Africa and returned home on Saturday to attend to the arrest of his son.
Police released Atupele on bail on Friday night while admitted to Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre where he was referred to by doctors at City Centre Clinic in Lilongwe.
