A Malawi opposition politician and popular musician convicted of faking credentials so he could run for Parliament won his appeal on Tuesday, and a high court judge added he was shocked that the singer had received such a harsh sentence.
Lucius Banda (36) had been sentenced in August to 21 months in prison with hard labour for allegedly faking his educational qualifications. On Tuesday, High Court Justice George Chimasula Phiri said the appeal was ”allowed in its entirety” and ordered Banda be freed.
At the time of his conviction, supporters had claimed Banda was a victim of a political vendetta, as his arrest last year coincided with his involvement in an unsuccessful attempt to impeach President Bingu wa Mutharika.
”He wanted to break me but I am a survivor,” said Banda, who has just released his 12th album, Survivors. ”I am not going to be cowed by this.”
The jam-packed courtroom erupted into chants of ”Soldier! Soldier” while thousands more outside danced when they heard the ruling.
Banda, who calls himself ”Soldier of the Poor Man”, shot to fame when he released music denouncing the dictatorship of Malawi’s former dictator, the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
Banda had been convicted of producing a fraudulent certificate showing he completed the minimum level of schooling needed to stand in 2004 parliamentary elections in which he won a seat for the former ruling United Democratic Front.
Phiri said Banda’s sentence was ”excessive and shocking”. The judge said the sentence should have been no more than three months, and that a suspended sentence or a fine ”would have been appropriate”. — Sapa-AP