Malawian activist nominated for global award on death penalty fight

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One of the country’s human rights activists who is also University of Malawi Lecturer,  Alexious Kamangila, has been nominated for the Public Grand Prize award at the 8th World Congress Against the Death Penalty.

This comes as once every three years, activists, civil society organizations,  Governments, former death row inmates and other interested groups, conduct a Congress where they reflect on the global push for the abolition of the death penalty. 

The Congress provides a platform to hear success stories of abolition, new commitments, but also the challenges across the universe and it also aims at renewing Commitment to abolition,  investing in the youth as a strategy for a better future and calling for Abolition Now everywhere.

At the ongoing World Congress against the Death Penalty in Berlin, Germany, Kamangila has been nominated for a prestigious award for his gallant effort and role he is playing in championing the fight for the abolition of the death penalty in Malawi.

When asked to comment on his nomination for the award, Kamangila expressed surprise for the recognition and stated that it was too kind to recognize him.

“Well, I think it’s more of a nomination for Malawi than to me, for its progress on this topic. For me, this nomination is overwhelming and a win in itself, by its very nature. Thanks to ECPM and I hope Malawi gets the real award, which is abolishing death penalty. That’s the most noble award,” said Kamangila.

Apart from advocating for the abolition of death penalty in Malawi, Kamangila has also been making headlines for taking up so many human rights cases of marginalised members of the society on a pro bono basis.

According to the website of Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which is the leading organization that organizes the Congress, the Robert Badinter Public Grand Prix had 9 nominees including Kim Kardashian and Bryan Stevenson.

However, latest information on the website, indicates that only four candidates have progressed for consideration of the award and these include; Ogarit Younan and Walid Slaybi (Lebanon), Andrei Paluda (Belarus Nasrin Sotoudeh (Iran) and Alexious Kamangila (Malawi).

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