The Pan African Civic Educators Network-PACENET questions what has gone wrong now for authorities to stop demonstrations; arguing Malawi witnessed violent protests in 2019 and part of 2020.

It describes the court injunction some citizens obtained restraining the demos as suspicious.

PACENET Executive Director, Olive Mpina further describes the charges police have levelled against the arrested 76 protesters as unreasonable and bordering on infringing their constitutional rights.

He therefore demands their unconditional release.

PACENET further says the court should have realized that the injunction was not being sought in good faith.

“We condemn in strongest terms the court’s insurance of the injunction at the eleventh hour when it was very clear that such action had the greatest potential to create chaos thereby risking the demonstration to become violent.

“This is not the first time for this group to organize a demonstration and none has become potentially violent,” argues Mpina in a statement.

Earlier, legal expert Professor Edge Kanyongolo told Rainbow Online that “whatever transpired at the court-sorting of injunction and attempting to vacate it- was part of democracy and what the constitution stipulates.”