Malawian Woman Jailed for 24 Years in Hong Kong – HRCC Calls for Her Repatriation Home

Malawian woman Estina Mukasera, 31, who was accused of drug trafficking of 2 190 grams of cocaine in August 2018 to Hong Kong, China has been sentenced to 24 years imprisonment after a court found her guilty but Chairperson of the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) Robert Mkwezalamba who has been following the case said the case has asked for Mukasera to be repatriated home.

Mkasera was arrested in August 2018 at an airport in Hong Kong after she was suspected to have taken the illicit drug.

HRCC has been pursuing the matter since the woman was arrested in 2018 and has previously engaged government to request the China to send Mukasera back to Malawi.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China with Executive, Legislative, and Judicial powers devolved from the national government.

Mkwezalamba has since written the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Homeland Security, Inspector General of Police, director general of Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services and the Speaker of the National Assembly to have Mukasera repatriated home.

In its letter dated February 26 2021, HRCC insists Mukasera was a victim of trafficking and want to use her “experiences” to speak against the vice and that Malawi government should engage the Hong Kong administration to secure an opportunity to have the Malawian woman repatriated.

.”In the alternative we have been tipped of the exact person who was behind her errand and that the person was initially arrested by government in 2018,” reads part of the letter.

“We call on the Malawi Police to review the suspect’s file and assess whether he has remained in the country or not towards undertaking to question him on this matter,” it added.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Rejoice Shumba said Malawi government provided legal support for Mukasera who gave birth while in prison in 2019.

By Nyasa Times