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Tanzania’s main opposition party called on Saturday to protest the arrest of its leader and said it had challenged terrorism charges against him.
Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe was arrested 10 days ago along with other high-ranking party members as they prepared to hold a public forum calling for constitutional reforms.
The overnight police raid and subsequent accusations against Mbowe have raised concerns among rights groups and Western countries about the rule of law in Tanzania under new President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
During a press briefing on Saturday, Chadema’s secretary-general John Mnyika said the party had filed a legal challenge in the case against Mbowe, saying it was a violation to charge him in the absence of his lawyer. of his rights.
Mnyika also urged party members and supporters to stage peaceful protests against the “fabricated” charges when Mbowe’s case comes to court on August 5.
Mbowe, 59, was charged Monday with terrorist financing and conspiracy – offenses that do not allow bail under Tanzanian law.
Critics said the action against him was a return to the oppressive regime of late Tanzanian leader John Magufuli and showed little had changed under Hassan.
The United States has expressed concern over Mbowe’s arrest and urged Hassan, who took office in March after Magufuli’s death, to guarantee freedoms for all Tanzanians.
Chadema vice-president Tundu Lissu on Friday called the accusations against Mbowe “a continuation of a political war against the opposition by the government”.
Lissu said the government “was misusing criminal laws as a weapon to silence the opposition.”
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