Comedian-cum-human rights activist Bon Kalindo Monday spent a fourth night in police custody following his arrest by the police in Lilongwe on Friday.
Monday, Kalindo appeared before the Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate Court where he asked the court to suspend and vacate his arrest warrant.
However, Senior Resident Magistrate Wanangwa Nyirenda reserved his ruling to today.
This was after Kalindo’s lawyer, Stanley Chirwa, had argued before court that the manner the warrant was obtained and executed was procedural.
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Kalindo’s arrest, which was effected on Friday, was on the ground that he allegedly failed to report to Area 30 police headquarters in Lilongwe as one of his bail conditions after his arrest in 2021 for allegedly claiming that he knew people behind the killing of persons with albinism.
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“According to the law, when an accused person has been arrested, they are supposed to be promptly brought before the court of law to be shown reasons why they have been arrested, especially when they are arrested on an issue of warrant of arrest.
“On two occasions, the accused person has been arrested on court premises. For reasons known to the State, the accused person has been taken twice to different districts; firstly, Dwangwa in Nkhotakota and then Salima. We do not know why,” Chirwa told reporters outside the courtroom.
He, therefore, argued that the State’s actions were just meant to frustrate his client.
However, the State argued that bail is guided by the law and that Kalindo was supposed to be reporting to police every fortnight, but that he last reported for his bail on April 28 2023.
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According to the State, the defence was supposed to have brought forward reasons that prevented the accused from reporting to the police as per his bail conditions.
Kalindo was arrested and charged before being released on bail in December 2021 for allegedly uttering information on television likely to cause fear and alarm to the public on December 20 2021.
Recently, he has been in the forefront in organising anti-government demonstrations on a number of issues in an attempt to force the government to address socio-economic problems.
