0DODZL $OHUW Date: March 12, 2012 Person/ institution: Media Violation/ issue: Censored The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is disturbed with repeated threats from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) top brass on media outlets deemed to be critical of President Bingu wa Mutharika’s government policies. Barely two days after State House issued a statement warning the media and civil society organizations against ‘insulting’ the country’s leadership, DPP Director of Youth, Frank Mwenefumbo, has called on all government departments and the civil service to stop buying, reading and advertising in newspapers critical of the DPP led government. &RPPXQLTXp Date: March 19, 2012 Person/ institution: Media Violation/ issue: Other The media fraternity in Malawi has called on State President Bingu Wa Mutharika to see to it that constitutional provisions on media freedom and freedom of expression are being respected. The call was made at an all inclusive two-day stakeholders conference at the Limbe Catholic Cathedral in the commercial city of Blantyre, Southern Malawi from 14th - 15th March, 2012. The conference was organized by the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) with participants from the media fraternity, political parties, Civil Society Organisations, academia and the business community, among others. 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\" &RPPXQLTXp Date: April 11, 2012 Person/ institution: Information Ministry Violation/ issue: Other Malawi’s new president, Joyce Banda, has started her career as Southern Africa’s first female president on a high note, replacing Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rebel Member of Parliament Moses Kunkuyu. Banda has also replaced the head of the state-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Bright Malopa with Benson Tembo, who served as Television Malawi’s (TVM) first Director-General in 1997. Banda was sworn in on Saturday, 7 April 2012 as Head of State following the sudden death of president Bingu wa Mutharika. $OHUW Date: May 28, 2012 Person/ institution: Clement Chinoko, Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL) Violation/ issues: Detained A journalist with one of Malawi’s major publishing houses, Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL), is languishing in police custody for writing a story on an alleged engagement ceremony involving two women. Reports indicate that the journalist, Clement Chinoko, was arrested on the evening of Saturday 26 May 2012 for penning a story that appeared in The Sunday Times of May 20, 2012. The story stated that two women from Malawi?s southern city of Blantyre had engaged. June 1, 2012: State House has said