Mark
21-01-03, 04:56
Charges dropped against 'vampire victim' interviewer
Monday, January 20, 2003 Posted: 5:09 PM EST (2209 GMT)
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BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) -- A Malawi court dismissed charges Monday against a radio reporter arrested for interviewing a man who said he had been attacked by vampires.
For months the government has been trying to end a rash of stories about vampires attacking villagers at night and using syringes to remove their blood. President Bakili Muluzi has issued a decree ordering police to arrest anyone spreading them.
Community radio journalist Maganizo Mazeze on Saturday interviewed a man from the southern tea-growing district of Thyolo who claimed to have been attacked by vampires.
Mazeze was arrested Sunday and charged with broadcasting false news likely to cause public alarm.
Magistrate Silvester Kalembera dismissed the charges Monday, saying police did not have an arrest warrant.
Mazeze was released and his supporters in the courtroom began chanting their support for him and urging him not to be cowed by the arrest.
"I am not bitter with anyone," Mazeze said. "In fact, my sojourn in jail has reinforced my resolve to unearth issues authorities would otherwise prefer buried," he said.
Mazeze said he would continue to interview people who claimed to have been attacked by vampires.
Earlier Monday, Magistrate Diana Mangwana granted bail to 19 suspects charged with conduct likely to breach the peace in connection with an attack on a ruling party official who was believed to be harboring vampires.
Since the rumors began, frightened villagers have beaten to death two men suspected of being vampires, attacked and nearly lynched three visiting priests, and destroyed an aid group's encampment they feared was the vampires' headquarters.
Monday, January 20, 2003 Posted: 5:09 PM EST (2209 GMT)
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Story Tools
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BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) -- A Malawi court dismissed charges Monday against a radio reporter arrested for interviewing a man who said he had been attacked by vampires.
For months the government has been trying to end a rash of stories about vampires attacking villagers at night and using syringes to remove their blood. President Bakili Muluzi has issued a decree ordering police to arrest anyone spreading them.
Community radio journalist Maganizo Mazeze on Saturday interviewed a man from the southern tea-growing district of Thyolo who claimed to have been attacked by vampires.
Mazeze was arrested Sunday and charged with broadcasting false news likely to cause public alarm.
Magistrate Silvester Kalembera dismissed the charges Monday, saying police did not have an arrest warrant.
Mazeze was released and his supporters in the courtroom began chanting their support for him and urging him not to be cowed by the arrest.
"I am not bitter with anyone," Mazeze said. "In fact, my sojourn in jail has reinforced my resolve to unearth issues authorities would otherwise prefer buried," he said.
Mazeze said he would continue to interview people who claimed to have been attacked by vampires.
Earlier Monday, Magistrate Diana Mangwana granted bail to 19 suspects charged with conduct likely to breach the peace in connection with an attack on a ruling party official who was believed to be harboring vampires.
Since the rumors began, frightened villagers have beaten to death two men suspected of being vampires, attacked and nearly lynched three visiting priests, and destroyed an aid group's encampment they feared was the vampires' headquarters.