Missing file keeps man in prison for 10 years

On 6 June 2013, Mateyo Charles Mwale was enjoying a beer with Malizani Tiyeni in Ntchisi district. While socializing, Mwale’s brother-in-law was involved in an argument and the two paused put down their bottles and intervened to calm the situation down.

In the course of the fracas, the brother-in-law sustained injuries and was taken to hospital where he died. Police, therefore, arrested Mwale and Tiyeni on 22 August 2013 on suspicion that they caused the death of the man.

When the matter was taken to court, Mwale’s co-accused was represented by a private lawyer and he was released on bail in 2014 after making an application to the High Court. Mwale was sent to Ntchisi Prison.

A murder trial commenced in the High Court and it was concluded on 29 September 2014 but the judgment was yet to be released. By then, Mateyo Charles Mwale was still on remand at Ntchisi Prison and while waiting for judgment, he was transferred to Maula Prison in 2016.

When Legal Aid Bureau with representation by Senior Legal Aid Advocate Agnes Ngoma and the Irish Rule of Law International together with Paralegal Advisory Service Institute -PASI took up Mwale’s matter, it was discovered that his file went missing. There was no record of the long-awaited judgment at the court or at the Director of Public Prosecution’s office.

On 8 March 2023, ten years after his arrest, Mwale has been unconditionally released on bail by High Court Judge Justice Annabel Mtalimanja.