MISA MALAWI STATEMENT ON DEMONSTRATIONS

PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEIATE RELEASE

16 January, 2013

MISA Malawi appeal to Journalists to be ethical during the January 17
demonstrations

The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa is appealing
to all Journalists and Media houses to exercise highest level of
professionalism when covering the demonstrations tomorrow.

The Chapter would also like to take this opportunity to appealto the
Police to respect the right of journalists to freely cover the
demonstrations.

Tomorrow’s demonstrations, organised by the Consumers Association of
Malawi (CAMA),and scheduled to start at 0800 hours across the country,
come at a time when Malawiansare trying to forget the brutal and violent
nature of July 20, 2011 mass demonstrations that left 11 peopledead and
scores of others injured, including 22 journalists who were either beaten
or arrested for no apparent reason.The Commission of Inquiry established
to probe the killings and brutal manner in which law enforcers tried to
contain the demonstrations offered a number of recommendations to prevent
a repeat of what happened in July 2011. The recommendations included a
call for the media to be sensitive and professional when covering
demonstrations and for law enforcers to respect constitutional guarantees
on freedom of expression and assembly, among others.

It is on this basis that MISA Malawi calls upon all media outlets and
journalists to be responsible when reporting on the demonstrations. We
also appeal to journalists to publish stories that are balanced, fair to
all sides and do not promote or insight violence or hatred.

In the same vein, we would like to appeal to the Police to respect
people’s right to assemble and demonstrate as well as journalists’ right
to freely gather and report as provided for under Section 36 of the
Republican Constitution which states:“the press shall have the right to
report and publish freely, within Malawi and abroad and be accorded the
fullest possible facilities for access to public information.”

This section recognizes the relevance of free flow of information in
building an informed nation and we expect the Police to respect this
right.

Lastly, we would like to assure the media fraternity and the general
public that MISA Malawi Chapter will monitor the demonstrations and act
accordingly if journalists are victimised. The Chapter will also ensure
that way ward reporters suffer the consequences of their actions. We also
urge victims of violations to report the same to relevant authorities in
time.

Signed
Antony Kasunda
MISA Malawi Chairperson