Camp court grants 12 remands bail at Chichiri Prison
Blantyre magistrate court in conjunction with Center for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) last week conducted camp court at Chichiri Prison.
This court allows prisoners on remand who cannot afford a private lawyer access legal services. There are currently very few legal aid lawyers in Malawi.
Lack of adequate state funded legal representation for the poor combined with the absence of access to information on the right to bail has resulted in the unnecessary, unlawful and prolonged pre-trial detention of thousands of people in overcrowded prisons across Malawi.
In Malawi 16.1 percent of prisoners are held in pre-trial detention (over 2,000 people). The average length of time spent in pre-trial detention awaiting trial is two years.
In an interview CHREAA monitoring and evaluation officer Siphiwe Maliherah said the majority of people arrested are not aware of their right to bail or how and when to exercise it.
He said: “Every remandee is supposed to be taken to court within 14 days however most of them end up overstaying in prisons.”
During the court session, senior resident magistrate Chikondi Mandala granted bail to 12 suspects.
CHREAA is implementing Malawi Bail Project whose aim is to empower those arrested for minor offences with simple techniques to enable them apply for bail by imparting them with knowledge through camp courts, paralegal aid clinics, simplified bail application guideline literatures and bail guide audio messages to increase the amount of bail applications granted and consequently reduce the amount of people living in pre-trial detention across Malawi.
