The decision by the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court to temporarily lift arrest warrants against three prominent civil society activists has revived legal questions about a case the State discontinued six years ago.
Former Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) leaders Timothy Mtambo, Gift Trapence and Reverend MacDonald Sembereka have secured a temporary reprieve after the court vacated warrants that had been issued against them pending the determination of their application to have the warrants cancelled altogether.
Their lawyer, Khwima Mchizi, said the move followed a request by the State for additional time to respond to the activists’ application. The matter is now scheduled to return before Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda on October 21, 2026.
For now, the court’s decision means the warrants cannot be executed.
The dispute stems from events in March 2020, when the three activists were arrested over allegations that they intended to march to State House during demonstrations held in the run-up to the June 2020 fresh presidential election.
However, the State discontinued the case in October 2020, effectively bringing the prosecution to an end.
At the centre of the current legal challenge is the activists’ contention that fresh warrants cannot lawfully be issued for alleged breaches of bail conditions in proceedings that no longer exist.
Their application therefore raises broader questions about the legal status of bail obligations once a case has been formally discontinued.
The court’s eventual ruling could clarify the extent of judicial authority in matters where criminal proceedings have already been terminated, a point likely to attract interest beyond the immediate parties involved.
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