Lissu’s lawyer Rugemeleza Nshala said the accusations against his clients are being promoted politically.
A Tanzanian court indicted opposition party leader Tundu Lissu for treason after he was arrested at a public rally calling for election reform.
The charges against Chadema Party’s chairman bring new scrutiny to President Samia Sloof Hassan’s reelection bid in October, as critics accused the government of cracking down on the opposition.
Opposition leaders were forced into police vehicles on Wednesday after finishing their speech at a public rally in Mvinga, southern Tanzania.
“I came here and held a peaceful meeting. Now I understand police tactics. Now we are clear about the situation. I will not enter the vehicle. It is not necessary. I will sleep here. What is the problem?” Squirrel asked the police. Just before his supporters became tears.
On Thursday afternoon, Lis arrived at the Magistrates’ Court for the Kistu Province resident, and at the court in the commercial capital, Dar es Saraam, appearing in the company of his lawyers and politicians of opposition parties.
However, he was not permitted to enter a petition for treason.
He returned to court on April 24, pleading not guilty to another charge of releasing false information.
Lissu’s lawyer Rugemeleza Nshala said the accusations against his clients are being promoted politically.
“We cannot separate these accusations from politics,” Nshala told Reuters.
“He was running a campaign to educate Chadema supporters, and they turned it into accusations.”
According to the Charge Sheet, the squirrel, who was shot 16 times in an attempt to assassinate in 2017, made the comment in question at Dar-es-Salaam on April 3rd.
The charge sheet quoted him as saying:
“So we’re going to ruin this election. We’re going to be really confused. …We’re going to ruin it very badly,” Charge Sheet accused him of saying.
Hassan won praise after coming to power in 2021 for easing suppression of political opponents and censoring the media that had proliferated under his predecessor, John Magufuli.
However, she faces criticism from human rights activists for a string of arrests and unexplained aid and murder of political enemies.
Hassan said the government has pledged to respect human rights and ordered an investigation into the aiding process reported last year.
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