Malawi’s Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional.
The court said the death penalty was against international human rights standards. This means that a life sentence will be the highest punishment in Malawi.
The ruling noted there had been no executions in the country since 1975 and experts had said that the death sentence did not necessarily deter criminal activities, adding that other forms of punishment were good enough.
Malawi now becomes the 22nd sub-Saharan country to abolish the death penalty.
