/ 14 February 2001

MALAWIAN REPORTERS CHARGED FOR ?FALSE NEWS?

MALAWIAN police have filed criminal charges against three journalists from the opposition Daily Times for publishing “false news likely to cause public alarm.” The Daily Times this week carried a story alleging that serial murders had resurfaced in Chiradzulu district, 15km from Blantyre. Eight men have been murdered since January, with their eyes gouged and their ears and genitals cut off, the report said. But police told the journalists the murders were not linked to similar serial killings last year in the same district. – AFP