(Credit: Malawi Voice, screenshot)

Malawi Voice reporter Justice Mponda has been charged with “false publication and criminal libel” over an article claiming the country’s president was resigning.  The information came from a phony Facebook account, IOL.co.za reported.

Malawi Voice identifies itself as an online “daily independent” news site.

The Nyasa Times added that Mponda is also accused of publishing fake stories claiming “the Malawi Government has given 48 hours to Tanzanian High Commissioner Patrick Tsere to leave the country,” which the Malawi Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Ralph Kasambara denied.

Mponda’s “gadgets like computers and cameras” were taken by police when he was arrested, the Nyasa Times,  which noted.

In a separate article, the Nyasa Times noted that Mponda was “released on bail after pleading not guilty to the charge.”