The State has discontinued its corruption case against Chinese national Lin Yunhua, leading to his release from Dedza Prison despite the High Court having rejected his bail application only a week earlier.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) filed a Certificate of Discontinuance in the case, prompting the High Court Financial Crimes Division to issue an order for Lin’s immediate release on Wednesday.
The order, dated 23 September 2026, directs Dedza Prison to release Lin unless he is being held for another lawful reason.
Lin had remained in custody after Justice Redson Kapindu dismissed his application for bail on 16 September.
In that ruling, Kapindu maintained that Lin was a serious flight risk and said the circumstances presented before the court did not justify his release on bail.
The judge’s decision followed a change in the State’s position on Lin’s detention, with prosecutors having previously opposed his release on grounds that he could abscond but later supporting bail subject to conditions.
Kapindu questioned the apparent contradiction in the State’s position.
“If they [the State] still believe that he is a flight risk,” the judge said, “then the State should have clearly explained the justification for, in one breath, saying that the accused person is a flight risk, and in the same breath saying he should be released on bail.”
The court also raised concerns over a proposal that Lin should meet expenses linked to police monitoring while on bail.
Kapindu observed that such an arrangement could create concerns over equal treatment of accused persons depending on their financial means.
The corruption case against Lin involved allegations that he offered K30 million and promised to complete construction of a house for a senior prison official in an attempt to influence the handling of his earlier wildlife case.
Lin denied the allegations.
The case followed events surrounding Lin’s imprisonment over wildlife-related offences and money laundering.
In 2021, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being convicted of the offences.
Former president Lazarus Chakwera later pardoned Lin in 2025, but he did not leave prison because the separate corruption proceedings were still pending.
His latest release therefore follows the termination of those proceedings rather than the granting of bail.
The High Court’s latest order specifically states that Lin should be released after consideration of the DPP’s Certificate of Discontinuance, unless another lawful basis exists for keeping him in custody.
