As lawyers for teenager Mussa John have vowed to appeal against the three year sentence for Mussa, musician Penjani ‘Fredokiss’ Kalua says he will proceed with plans to lead a parade where a petition will be delivered at Sanjika palace.
On Thursday 1st September, the High Court in Blantyre reduced Mussa’s eight year sentence to three years and this was amid expectations that Mussa who, got the punishment for being found in possession of 78 plastic bags of Chamba, would be released.
According to one of Mussa’s Lawyers, Chikondi Chijozi, the High Court agreed with the lower court’s decision to pass a custodial sentence to the teen, but High Court Judge Vikochi Chima said the lower court should have been lenient on the sentence hence the reduction.
Chijozi expressed disappointment with the reduction saying they expected that Mussa who is said to be 17, would be released. She added that they will soon appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
“The ruling is quite disappointing, because the reason we approached the court on this matter was to ensure that the applicant receives justice by getting at least a noncustodial sentence considering the age of the applicant. We are quite disappointed.
“We are going to definitely appeal the decision of the court because we still feel that there are other issues that the court should have taken into consideration both in terms of conviction and the sentence,” said Chijozi.
Chijozi further said they will soon approach the court to as well apply for Mussa’s bail pending the appeal.
In an interview with Malawi24, rapper Fredokiss, who has been pushing for Mussa’s release, said he is disappointed with the ruling and will proceed with plan to lead a parade dubbed ‘free Mussa’.
Fredokiss said the parade will be held on September 15 from Nyambadwe ground, to Kamuzu upper stadium, to Blantyre town and then to Sanjika Palace where they will deliver a petition addressed to the President Lazarus Chakwera.
The rapper said he and youths at large are not satisfied with the ruling as it is still excessive considering Mussa’s age and also considering that the convict is not the owner of the prohibited plant.
“We are disappointed with the ruling, it’s not three days, it’s three years of a minor spending time in jail before adults. This is three years of a minor who is a breadwinner for a case where others get suspended sentence or just being fined.
“So, the parade is set for 15 September in Blantyre, we are against selective justice. Initially we planned to deliver our petition to the chief justice, but with this, none of us has got the energy to walk there, so we will match to Sanjika palace to deliver our petition to the president,” Fredokiss reacted.
He has since encouraged youths to show love to their fellow youth, Mussa saying the selective justice which seems to have rocked the country’s judiciary system, can also happen to one of them.
However, Kalua emphasized that the parade will be peaceful arguing that he does not want to see protesters destroying businesses of people.
“This is the right time to prove that youths don’t just talk on social media, we can also take an action. So let me encourage youths to come in their large numbers. However, we don’t want to create a waste situation for another Mussa John who is doing a business. We want this to be violence-free, we are doing this out of love,” added Kalua.
He further told Malawi24 that to prove that the intention is to have a violence-free demonstrations, organizers have included music and poetry performances.
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