The stepson of the ex-president of Malawi Peter Mutharika has been acquitted of all charges in a case in which he was accused of human trafficking and aggravated manslaughter.
Tadikira Mafubza and seven other men were arrested in November 2022 after police said they were linked to the deaths of 29 suspected Ethiopian immigrants whose bodies were found in an unmarked mass grave.
Ex-president Mutharika said at the time that he was shocked by the police actions and said his stepson had been arrested without any evidence linking him to a crime.
Mr Mafubza and his co-accused have been in custody for more than 19 months before being acquitted after a full trial.
“We are happy with the outcome,” Mafubza’s lawyer said on Wednesday.
“To be honest, we saw it coming as evidence [against our client] was incoherent.”
However, Dzikondianthu Malunda, an official in the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the ruling “came as a surprise”.
Mafubza himself declined to comment on his acquittal as he left the courtroom on Wednesday, stopping only to pose for photographs by photographers.
In October 2022, police found a grave filled with dozens of bodies in a forest in the northern district of Mzimba after young boys reportedly noticed a foul odor.
The bodies were of boys and men, believed to be Ethiopian migrants trafficked to South Africa.
Malawi is an important smuggling route for migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia.
After police launched a search for Mr Mafubza, he turned himself in at their headquarters in the capital Lilongwe.
The former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had described his arrest as a political witch hunt against Mutharika’s family and his supporters.
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