Following their pardon on Saturday, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza went public for the first time yesterday. More gay weddings have been announced.
Malawian couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, and Steven Monjeza, 26, yesterday addressed the public for the first time since their release. The pair called Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika a "caring father" at a press conference late on Wednesday afternoon and thanked him for the support he has given them. pardon issued on Saturday.
Following a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mutharika ordered her release from prison and cancelled her 14-year sentence, which had been imposed a week earlier because of their public engagement in December 2009.
The pardon had met with worldwide approval after the Malawian government had previously been criticised by the UN, the EU and US President Barack Obama, among others. had been sharply criticised.
Chimbalanga and Monjeza told media representatives that the detention and trial had been the "most stressful time of our lives" and asked the press and the global public to respect their privacy. "An incredible amount of positive, but also negative things have been written about us. Now it's time to let us enjoy our freedom."
Gift Trapence, the director of the Malawian underground gay movement "Centre for the Development of People" (CEDEP), told the French press agency AFP that they are currently trying to find jobs for Chimbalanga and Monjeza. The group had already paid the couple's legal fees.
The Malawian public and the African country's media, meanwhile, have been urged by their president to stop discussing the "satanic connection" immediately. "I don't want anyone else commenting on the events. Nobody should give the gays any more attention. It spoils everything," Mutharki told members of the press. He emphasised once again that the wedding was "a crime against our culture and our laws" and justified the pardon by saying that "to err is human, but to forgive is divine". And that's it: "The story ends here!"
However, it does not look like that will happen. Wongani James Phiri, the spokesperson for the Malawian organisation "Malawi Gay Rights Movement" (Magrim), publicly announced yesterday that they would be organising two more public weddings for male couples this year. It should be checked whether Mutharika is really serious about protecting human rights.
(Paul Schulz)
