The Malawi judiciary suspended their strike to rescue a prominent activist, Human rights lawyer Ralph Kasambara, who was arrested on Sunday. The human rights lawyer, who is also a former Attorney General, was seized over assault charges.
Despite the strike continuing in its fifth week, the Blantyre Magistrate Court on Tuesday afternoon briefly met and ordered the release of the lawyer on bail.
Mr Kasambara was arrested when he handed over to police suspects who he claimed were caught in the act of trying to petrol-bomb his office.
It is said that, the suspects were overpowered by the former Attorney General’s security personnel before he moved in to hand them over to police. Lobbyists, said that his arrest was politically motivated
Mr Kasambara claimed that the police was getting involved even before he handed the suspects to them. He said "somebody knew what was going on".
According to Ms Patricia Kaliati, the Minister of Information, Mr Kasambara was arrested for assault, abduction and indecent acts and she added that the suspects were homosexually assaulted.
Terror ahead of elections
In Malawi, civil society organisations announced that the government had hired people from Zimbabwe to cause terror to its critics before the 2014 elections.
Reverend MacDonald Sembereka, a member of the CSO said that some government agents tipped them off that Zimbabweans had been hired to unleash terror in Malawi.
Mr Hetherwick Ntaba the presidential spokesperson denied the allegations and said the government and the ruling party did not engage in any acts of terrorism..
In his recent addresses, Pesident Mutharika has been accusing civil society organisations of trying to topple his government.