Share

Malawi Law Society gears up to sue police over brutality

Lilongwe - Officials from the Malawi Law Society (MLS) have urged leadership within the Chancellor College Students' Union to submit names of police who brutalised students during a recent protest.

According to Nyasa Times, the call follows a clip released online showing unarmed girls being slapped and harassed by police officers as scholars took to the streets to air their grievances over a recent price hike in fees.

"Chancellor College Students Union has received an urgent call from the Malawi Law Society to submit names of all students who suffered any form of act of police brutality during the recent events on campus," said the union’s president, Ayuba Sylvester James.

Since the emergence of the video, which has since gone viral over the internet, calls have been growing urging Malawian police to conduct disciplinary investigations into the matter and bring the perpetrators of violence to book.

"When I first saw the video, I couldn’t watch it to the end. I just couldn’t stomach it. I imagined the fear the unarmed girls had at the site of the monsters camouflaged as police officers. The overzealous police officers were supposed to protect the students and not to harm them," wrote Selina Kainja, a columnist for local newspaper, The Weekender.

"Our police officers need to go back to class and learn better ways of crowd or riot control. It has shown that in many cases, when there are demos, police use violence or intimidation to scare people away," Nyasa Times quoted Kainja as saying.

Members of the former ruling People's Party (PP) have also lashed out at the development, writing to the Inspector General of Police asking for the police officer featured in the viral clip to be fired with immediate effect.

According to a Malawi24 report, PP spokesperson Ken Msonda, made the call, adding that officers involved in the brutality of innocent students must be disciplined.

"We have a video clip which is exposing some officer slapping female students at the institution, which is not a good development considering the academic freedom, and we have sent that video to the inspector general of the police. We want those officers fired," said Msonda.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 446 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 640 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.41
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
+1.3%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE