Malawi Congress Party (MCP) legislator for Salima North, West Jessie Kabwila, on Wednesday vowed to sue the government for false imprisonment, moments after the High Court in Blantyre dismissed the treason case against her and Ulemu Msungama.
The two MCP members were arrested in February last year on allegations that there were exchanging WhatsApp messages meant to demean the leadership of President Peter Mutharika.
The court granted the applicants leave for a judicial review on 15 February this year.
State Advocate Apoche Itimu, told the court that the State did not have any new evidence on the matter.
In his ruling, Justice Healy Potani asked the state to refrain from making arrests before the completion of their investigations. He also ordered the state to pay all the legal costs incurred by the applicants in the case.
Lawyer for the two, Gustav Kaliwo, stated that it was unfortunate that the state failed to provide any evidence implicating the two, a year after their arrests.
He said armed police officers arrested Kabwila as a hardcore criminal while at Parliament where she was representing her constituents.
“This is a waste of resources both for to the state and the accused. It is high time the state conducted investigations before making any arrests,” he said.
Kabwila thanked her party, her constituents and all Malawians for their support during the entire case.
Kabwila added that she is suing the state for false imprisonment to make sure that the truth prevails as the arrest did not only embarrass her but the MCP and her constituents as well.
“I represent Malawians, so nobody can just wake up and cook up stories that Jessie has done this, Jessie has done that without facts. Someone must surely pay for this. This is the attitude that is keeping most of the women away from politics, but I will fight for my rights,” she said.
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