On 6 February 2013, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, Commissioner Pansy Tlakula, in collaboration with Media Institute of South Africa Malawi (MISA-Malawi), World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the Centre for Human Rights, organised a stakeholders meeting on the decriminalisation of laws limiting Freedom of Expression, in Lilongwe, Malawi.

The meeting brought together organisations that had worked on the decriminalisation of laws limiting freedom of expression in Malawi in the past, those that are well positioned to do so in the future, as well as representatives of media groupings whose activities are most jeopardised by the existence of these laws.

At the meeting, participants discussed some of the various criminal laws restricting freedom of expression and how they had been applied by courts in Malawi, the impact of these laws on media freedom and as well as past efforts at their decriminalisation in Malawi. The meeting concluded with the adoption of an 11 point Action Plan.

Download the 11 point Action Plan

The following day, the Special Rapporteur, accompanied by representatives of MISA MALAWI, WAN-IFRA and the Centre for Human Rights, paid a courtesy call to Mr Anthony Livuza, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Information.

More information:

Press release issued by MISA MALAWI at the conclusion of the meeting