Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza are Fine, gives interview

This is not translated yet, but I wanted to show they are okay and together.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, and Steven Monjeza, 26, gave a brief news conference in the administrative capital Lilongwe late Wednesday, their first public appearance together since Saturday's pardon from the sentence of 14 years' hard labour imposed after they held a symbolic wedding.

The pardon followed a meeting between Mutharika and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Malawi has been sharply criticised by the international community for jailing the couple and maintaining laws that criminalise homosexuality.

The couple asked the media and the general public to respect their privacy.

"So much has been said and written about us, both positive and negative. We think this is the time for us to be given an opportunity to enjoy our freedom," they said.

They called their ordeal "the most stressful period in our lives."

Chimbalanga told AFP in a phone interview that he was in Lilongwe to "have a breather", while his partner had returned to his village.

Gift Trapence, director of the underground gay movement Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), which paid the couple's legal fees, said the group was trying to find jobs for Chimbalanga and Monjeza.

source