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The Malawi High Court has sentenced to death a man who murdered a young albino, an unprecedented sentence in a country that has seen an upsurge in attacks and murders of people with albinism.
Willard Mikaele, then 28, was found guilty of murdering 19-year-old Mphatso Pensulo in the southern Thyolo district in 2017.
"He had planned to kill an albino in order to quickly enrich himself according to the recommendations of the herbalist," said Judge Maclean Kamwambe in pronouncing the sentence Friday in Thyolo.
"It has been reiterated that there will be times when the death penalty will be unavoidable due to the circumstances and that it should be reserved for such occasions," said the judge.
Malawi has not carried out any executions since 1994, with death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
The verdict suggests the Malawian authorities' growing awareness of attacks on albinos, said Ikponwosa Ero, the UN's independent expert on albinism.
"I am watching with keen interest what appears to be an awakening by the Malawi government in the face of the terrible series of crimes perpetrated in the country against people with albinism," he said. she told AFP on Saturday. expressing strong opposition to the death penalty.
Malawi, one of the world's poorest and most aid-dependent countries, has seen an upsurge in violent attacks against people with albinism since the end of 2014.
In many cases, people with albinism are targeted for their body parts that will be used during witchcraft rituals intended to bring wealth and luck.
In a report published in June 2018, the human rights group Amnesty International said that since November 2014, 148 crimes against people with albinism had been reported, including at least 21 deaths.
According to official statistics, only 30% of these attacks were the subject of an appropriate investigation, with only one case of murder and attempted murder successfully prosecuted.
In March, President Peter Mutharika appointed an investigating commission to investigate a series of attacks against people with albinism, after being criticized for his reaction to attacks .
Albinism is a genetic disease that causes a partial or total absence of pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes.
As a result, in addition to discrimination, many albinos often have vision problems and are at increased risk for skin cancer.
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