Timothy Mtambo’s 2020 HRDC Briefing Recording Sought by Police

Police in Malawi have obtained a court warrant to search the premises of Zodiak Broadcasting Station in Lilongwe for an audio and video recording of a 2020 press briefing involving former Human Rights Defenders Coalition leaders. The recording features an event addressed by Timothy Mtambo, who was then the coalition’s chairperson, alongside deputy Gift Trapence and senior member Reverend McDonald Sembereka. The warrant was issued by a Second Grade Magistrate Court in Lilongwe on November 9, 2026. It authorises officers to search Zodiak Radio and Television’s premises and seize the recording if they find it. The document says investigators believe the material may be evidence connected to an alleged offence of soliciting another person to break the law, contrary to Section 124(1)(b) of the Penal Code. The footage relates to a press briefing held at Lingadzi Inn in Lilongwe on March 6, 2020. According to the warrant, police are seeking the recording as part of an investigation concerning the former HRDC leaders. The court order also instructs officers to present any seized recording before the court and later report how they carried out the search. The move follows a separate development in the case. Days earlier, Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda cancelled arrest warrants that had been issued against Mtambo, Trapence and Sembereka over alleged breaches of bail conditions. State prosecutor Prescott Mwayiulipo then told the court that prosecutors intended to revive the matter, and Banda advised the State to make a formal application. The warrant therefore represents a further step in efforts to obtain material linked to the 2020 briefing. The allegations described in the warrant remain allegations; the account does not report a finding of guilt against Mtambo or the other former HRDC figures.