National News

BBC documentary highlights Malawi’s re-sentencing success

A documentary chronicling the impact of a resentencing project of inmates on death sentence in Malawi has hit the airwaves on the BBC World Service.

The documentary, which The Nation accessed before being broadcast on the global channel, states that 139 death row prisoners have been released in the past three years.

Kaula (right) with his mother

They are part of 159 prisoners who were formerly sentenced to death but received new sentences as a result of a resentencing project that an international legal charity Reprieve carried out with a number of stakeholders.

One of the highlights of the programme is a story of Byson Kaula who spent 23 years in prison and twice came close to being executed before being handed a re-sentencing judgement at the age of 64.

“There was a day I was on the list of 21 to be hanged and I was later told that three prisoners, including me, will be executed another day. This continued and by sheer luck, I survived again until when I was told I was a free man,” he says.

Kaula was handed a death sentence after being accused of killing one of his farm workers. While helping the sick worker, Kaula slipped forcing his employee to land on his head. He died a few days later.

The programme also documents the story of a woman named Margaret who was released after 15 years of incarceration for the murder of her two children. She survived the poison she gave the children in an attempt to run away from her violent husband.

The documentary also highlights the views of people on capital punishment especially the release of convicts on death row.

“Of a 102 traditional leaders surveyed in areas where former death row inmates had returned home, only six believe capital punishment is appropriate for murder,” it explains.

In an interview, Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (Pasi) national director Clifford Msiska said despite the project registering success stories, some inmates on death row remain incarcerated.

The documentary, broadcast twice yesterday, will also air on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

In 2007, in the Kafantayeni and Attorney General case, the Supreme Court found that the mandatory death penalty violated the Malawian Constitution and must, therefore, be abolished. n

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