The Maravi Post

MZUZU--A Malawi court on Friday acquitted Justice Mponda, a  reporter, after the state failed to prove that he was the one who wrote stories insulting Pres Joyce Banda carried by online publication Malawi Voice.

The court acquitted Mponda after all the three state witnesses Reverend Malani Mtonga, IT expert Jere and Deputy CID failed to turn up to testify against the suspect for the fifth time.

Mponda was arrested by police at his residence in Chiwembe, Blantyre in the early hours of October 15 2012. He was charged with "insulting the president, publishing false stories and criminal libel".

Mponda’s arrest attracted condemnations from different quarters including the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (NAMISA).

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(c) The Maravi Post 2013

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