Malawi Couple Pleads Not Guilty

Two Malawi men arrested Saturday after starting the process of getting married appeared in a packed courtroom Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to gross indecency, the BBC reports. The men, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, have been ordered to remain in jail and are expected to ask for bail in court on Monday.

Prosecutors on Wednesday said they will send the men to the hospital to prove that they've had sex with each other. Homosexual acts carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in Malawi.

Reported the BBC: Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says the large crowds of onlookers went to see the couple in court. He says some of them congratulated them but others shouted insults.... Mr. Monjeza, 26, hinted that he may consider calling off the proposed wedding as he was sent back to prison. "I am said I am going back to Chichiri Prison," he said. "The condition[s] are terrible there. People are exaggerating this thing. I may just as well dissolve this marriage."

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