Riot Police in Tanzania has detained a number of protesting supporters of arrested opposition leader Freedom Mbowe, as a terrorism case against him was postponed.
Chadema supporters waving placards saying “Mbowe is not a terrorist” and “Free Freeman Mbowe” gathered outside the court, to which Police responded by arresting protesters, the party said on Twitter.
Chadema also said police had raided its regional office in the capital Dodoma on Wednesday night and assaulted a guard before making off with documents.
The party’s secretary general John Mnyika urged supporters to turn up at the court again on Friday. “Going to court is not a criminal offence,” he said on Twitter.
Mbowe and other officials from the main opposition party Chadema were arrested last month ahead of a planned conference to demand constitutional reform.
The 59-year-old has been charged with financing and conspiracy in what has sparked concern among rights groups and some Western nations about freedoms under Tanzania’s new leader.
Mbowe had been due to appear in court in the financial capital Dar es Salaam on Thursday via a video link from his prison but his defence lawyer Peter Kibatala said the case was postponed to Friday because of connection problems.
His arrest came four months after Tanzania’s first female president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, took office following the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli.
There had been hopes that Hassan would usher in change from the autocratic rule of her predecessor, nicknamed the “Bulldozer” for his uncompromising style.
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