The leader of Tanzania’s largest opposition party has testified in court during a hearing for the treason charge, which could lead to the death penalty.
Tundu Lissu issued a message of defiance to supporters on Monday as he took his place in the dock at Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in the capital, Dar-es-Salaam. The trial has heightened growing concerns about threats to democracy in East Africa.
According to a video of the courtroom shared by his Chadema party on X, Lissu entered with his fist raised in the air as his supporters chanted, “No reforms, no election.”
“We’ll be fine,” the message. As he addressed supporters, Lissu said, “Don’t worry at all.”
After being forced to appear via videolink from prison for an earlier hearing on April 24, the opposition leader, who finished second in the 2020 presidential election, insisted on going to the hearing in person.
Lissu, who was shot 16 times in a 2017 attack, was accused of treason last month for a speech that, according to prosecutors, called on the populace to rebel and obstruct presidential and legislative elections that were scheduled for October.
After demanding changes to an electoral system that it claimed favors the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, since the country’s independence from British rule in 1961, his Chadema party was exempt from the polls this year.
#NoReformsNoElection photo twitter.com/DYxD1RauWl
Samia Suluhu Hassan, who intends to run for re-election in October, has had a strong record with respect to the rights of his arrests. She has reaffirmed that the government is committed to upholding human rights.
However, several Kenyan rights activists, including a former justice minister, claim they were denied entry to Tanzania as they attempted to travel to Lissu’s trial.
According to X, former minister Martha Karua, a well-known lawyer and opposition figurehead, and former Supreme Court President Willy Mutunga were just two of the people who were detained when they landed at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar-es-Salaam.
Paul Mselle, Tanzania’s immigration spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment right away.
After being denied entry and returned to Nairobi, Karua told the Kenyan broadcaster NTV on Monday that “we went out there in solidarity.”
“The state cannot be used as a personal tool,” he said. You can’t deport people who disagree with you or disagree with your opinions.
As we arrived at Julius Nyerere Airport in Dar es Salaam to observe @TunduALissu’s case, we, @WMutunga, @Honeyfarsafi, and I were detained.
Lawyers for Tanzania and human rights advocates were on the ground during the trip.
The detention has been halted without explanation. pic. https://twitter.com/ad8UVtT4me
Hussein Khalid and Mutunga were being detained on Monday in an interrogation room at the Julius Nyerere airport, according to Khalid, who spoke on X.
In response to growing concerns about democracy in East Africa, Karua claimed last month that Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda were “collaborating” in their “total erosion of democratic principles.”
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Source: Aljazeera
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