In court Tuesday, the state prosecutor dropped the other charges, Mughogho said, and instead accused him of violating the Malawi Motor Traffic Act of 1997—“for excessive use of my hooter.”

“The case has been shown publicly to be a sham, and the only charge I am facing is a basic traffic offense,” he wrote in an e-mail to friends and supporters after Tuesday’s hearing. “The moral victory is ours!”

Mughogho said his arrest has inspired others to stand up against Muluzi’s government.

“It’s amazing how since my arrest people have gotten more courage to resist,” he said. “I was just an ordinary, random Malawian and yet in my hometown, people are coming up to me and saying, ‘That was a brave thing to do.’”

Mughogho said his case, which was widely reported in newspapers across Malawi, has bolstered the opposition movement across the country.

A coalition of political parties and church groups is planning a nation-wide protest tomorrow morning against Muluzi’s aspirations for a third term.

While at Harvard, Mughogho, an economics concentrator, was a member of the Spee Club and the polo team. He is currently an officer of the Harvard African Students Alumni Network.

He said his college days inspired him to enter politics.

“While I was at Harvard I read a quote that has stayed with me ever since: ‘The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a moment of moral crisis, seek to maintain their neutrality,’” he said. “I would argue that those words apply equally well in Malawi today.”

—Staff writer Amit R. Paley can be reached at paley@fas.harvard.edu.