MALAWIANS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

eetchef · Senior Member

MALAWIANS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

awmygawd · Guru

But Bingu is the aggressor in both articles. Not that I'm suprised.

eetchef · Senior Member

I am in favour of the application of the Sedition Act by Bingus government , which forbids spoken or written meaningless criticism of the either the government , parliament or the president. I mean, look Muluzi used it on many occasions and Matafales seditious letter is one case an example. I dont just believe in freedom of speech where we have these commercial radio stations and then newsparers doing whatever they think is a right for themselves. No one should and not even the x-president Muluzi and UDF have the right to seditious assault the state with words through these unstructured radios or newspapers as part of their right . I believe that any sort of undermining of state authority should never be tolerated in Malawi now. I think the policy makers should introduce the debate on anti-hate law or something which in real sense should make two things a crime . First, it should make it a crime to distribute false news in any case. And what it means is that the state determines whats true , and if you say anything thats not what the state says its true thats a false news and you go to jail, period . I mean everyone in these democratic countries is doing it . Second thing should be the law prohibiting the statements which are harmful to the public interests. The opposition in Malawi at the moment akubower, and in this case all these people who openly insist with statements that Muluzis government developed the country and was corrupt free must be silenced in any way because they are harmful to public interests. Look in England where you always refer to as a country that respects human rights and stuff , there is no freedom of speech , by law. Never, not in the Victorian laws. The police (BOMA a name in UK for police) can go into the BBC offices , as they did very recently , and rifle through the files and take out anything they want , and the government can prevent people from publishing things. In fact I should also point out that there is a new law in the UK at the moment ,the anti-terrorism law , which makes it illegal to report statements by people the state regards as terrorists, like Abuh Hamzaa. And no television network or radio station can broadcast anything to that effect because the state might not permit it. In France as well, where there isnt even a vague tradition of freedom of speech , the government a few years ago cancelled a newspaper of Algerian dissidents in Paris on the sole ground that its publication was harmful to French diplomatic relations with Algeria and none of the French intellectuals raised a peep. So whats the fuss happenoing in Malawi. KutengekA , kapena being horny ndi democracy or what to the point of playing games with the government chonchi ? Bingu wake up and show them . -- Edited by eetchef at 02:40, 2007-04-13-- Edited by eetchef at 02:41, 2007-04-13

-- Edited by eetchef at 02:42, 2007-04-13

-- Edited by eetchef at 02:52, 2007-04-13