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Tanzanian President John Magufuli, photographed here during his inauguration ceremony in 2015, has been accused of authoritarianism by human rights defenders. By Daniel Hayduk (AFP)
The leader of the main Tanzanian opposition party on Friday condemned what he described as a climate of fear instituted by a "police state" after more than three months in prison.
Freeman Mbowe, leader of the Chadema party, and his colleague, Esther Matiko, also imprisoned, described terrible detention conditions.
"This country has become a real police state," Mbowe said at a news conference.
"Fear has taken hold of the country, people do not dare to speak, freedom of the press does not exist anymore," he said.
Mbowe and Matiko were arrested in November after failing to appear twice in court to face a protest in February 2018 in which a 22-year-old student was shot dead.
In an appeal filed by the pair, Judge Sam Rumanyika ruled last Thursday that their rights had been violated and ordered their immediate release on bail.
Critics say President John Magufuli has unleashed a wave of oppression since his election in 2015, attacking opposition figures, the media and gays.
"The death of the opposition would be a disaster for the country, you can not build a democracy by beating or silencing your opponent," Mbowe said.
Mbowe said that in prison, some inmates had spent up to two weeks without being washed, which had resulted in infectious diseases such as scabies, prisoners scratching "until the blood flows ".
He said that the prisoners are so crammed into the cells that, when they slept, a "group leader" takes charge, applauding so that everyone can turn around in unison.
In the women's prison, Matiko said that the mentally ill were locked up with criminals. He is committed to addressing the issue in parliament.
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