CDEDI gives China 7 days to address torture of Malawians

The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has given the Chinese Embassy in Malawi an ultimatum to address the torture of Malawian nationals by Chinese nationals.

CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa stated that the organization demands justice for Siraj Maliwa, a Malawian who was brutally beaten by 15 Chinese nationals at Sino-Hydro premises in Chikwawa on April 14, 2024.

Maliwa was suspected of stealing diesel from a pay loader and was left for dead after being beaten with metal bars. Despite the severity of the incident, only two of the 15 alleged suspects, Allen Cheng and Peng Y-Ongqia, were arrested and fined K500,000 each.

CDEDI has expressed outrage over the lenient sentence, stating that it is “as good as giving a blank cheque to foreign nationals to torture or even kill locals as long as they have the money to pay fines”.

Namiwa emphasized that “everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law. Therefore, corporal, let alone, mob justice has no space in modern-day Malawi.”

CDEDI has given the Chinese Embassy, the Chikwawa Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and those directly connected to the Chikwawa incident seven days to comply with their demands.

These demands include the immediate arrest of the remaining suspects, a public apology from the Chinese Embassy, compensation for Maliwa, a fresh case against Allen Cheng and Peng Y-Ongqia, and a probe into the medical report.

Failure to comply with these demands will result in CDEDI mobilizing locals in Chikwawa to seal the Kasisi Sino-Hydro camp site office until the demands are met.

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