African Court to rule on Chanthunya murder appeal today
In a case that has gripped Malawi and beyond, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha is set to deliver its ruling today on a controversial appeal by Misozi Chanthunya, currently serving a life sentence for the brutal killing of his Zimbabwean girlfriend, Linda Gasa.
The case raises pressing questions about the legitimacy of evidence used to secure convictions and the potential miscarriage of justice, as Chanthunya argues that his trial was marred by “fraudulent call logs” and “illegally obtained evidence.”
Chanthunya was convicted in 2020 by Judge Ruth Chinangwa, who sentenced him to life imprisonment for Gasa’s 2010 murder. His initial appeal to the Malawi Supreme Court was dismissed a year later, despite his lawyer’s assertion that the evidence was unreliable. The call logs central to the conviction, Chanthunya claims, were “falsified,” and he argues that the mobile company employee who testified could not confirm their authenticity.
Now, Chanthunya’s legal team, led by Michael Goba Chipeta, is urging the African Court to consider if his rights were violated by the use of allegedly doctored call logs.
“The question here is simple,” Chipeta argues. “Can courts rely on potentially fraudulent evidence to convict? When the Supreme Court confirmed his conviction, they provided no reasons within the prescribed time, and the state did not challenge any of our client’s applications here in Arusha.”
The ruling, which is open for public viewing at 10 AM on the African Court’s official YouTube channel, could set a significant precedent for cases where the reliability of evidence is disputed.
The outcome will either affirm or challenge Malawi’s judiciary’s handling of high-profile cases, potentially reshaping standards for the admissibility of evidence across Africa.
Watch the live ruling here from 10am: https://www.youtube.com/@AfricanCourtEnglishChannel/live
