Few days after the Malawi Police confiscated computers and gadgets belonging to Platform for Investigative Journalism in Malawi (PIJ) and the arbitrary arrest of its director, Gregory Gondwe, the publication has been hacked and taken offline.
The publication, in a statement this evening, has confirmed the attack on its website.
“Our website has been hacked by an unknown group and readers cannot access it at the moment. We are working with our IT team to retrieve it and resume the important work of publishing public interest journalism. The public will be notified once we have retrieved our website,” PIJ said inthe statement posted on Facebook page.
On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, Police in Blantyre detained Gondwe, Platform for Investigative Journalism Managing Director, for about six hours over a story about the Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda’s decision which gave a greenlight to the Malawi Police to make a payment to a businessman who is under the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigation.
Hours after the arrest, Police released Gondwe on bail but held on to the computer and phone they confiscated overnight before returning them in the morning of Wednesday, April 6, 2022, raising Gondwe’s privacy concerns.
The arrest of Gondwe came after the Attorney General threatened to deal with people responsible for leaking his decision.
PIJ over the past months has been publishing investigative about theft of billions of Kwacha by businesspersons through questionable procurement deals at Malawi Police, Malawi Immigration and Maalwi Defence Force.
Gregory Gondwe narrates ordeal at the hands of Malawi Police
