Going the wrong way

摘要

WHEN Robert Chasowa's body was found in the grounds of the University of Malawi's polytechnic campus on September 24th, police said the fourth-year mechanical-engineering student had jumped to his death after leaving a suicide note. He had a gash to his head but no broken bones or ruptured internal organs. The purported suicide note, written in capital letters, bore no date or signature and got his father's name wrong. As it happens, Mr Chasowa, a pro-democracy activist, was wanted by police for publishing details of alleged corruption in high places. This was no suicide, Malawians swiftly concluded, but a political assassination.