A Resident Magistrate Court in Kisutu has dismissed a sedition case against Chadema’s deputy chairman, Tundu Lissu and four others.
This came after the Director of Public Prosecutions in Tanzania (DPP) Sylvester Mwakitalu told the court that he had no intention of continuing with the charges against the accused.
Former Singida East MP Tundu Lissu was in June 2016 joined in the sedition case facing the Editor of a weekly tabloid Mawio, Simon Mkina.
Prosecution had claimed in case number 208 of 2016, that accused them of committing the offence between January 12 and 14, 2016 contrary to Section 32(1)(a), 32(1)(c), and 12(a) of the Newspapers Act and Section 89B(1)(a) of the Penal Code.
It was claimed the accused published seditious content in Mawio of January 14 to 20, 2016. The other accused Jabir Idrissa Yunus, a journalist and Ismail Mehbood who is a printer. They are facing five counts including conspiracy, publishing seditious content and intimidation.
Kaduchi alleged on the first count that facing all four accused that, between January 12 and 14 2016 at an unknown place within the city, the accused conspired to publish seditious content under the title “Machafuko yaja Zanzibar” (Chaos imminent in Zanzibar)
In his reaction to the decision made by the Kisutu Resident’s Magistrate Court, Chadema’s vice chairman Tundu Lissu demanded unconditional dropping of all charges in cases filed against him, party leaders and members calling them malicious.
Lissu is currently resident in Belgium where he was referred for specialised treatment after sustaining an assassination attempt on September 7, 2017 in Dodoma.
He adds that case dismissal should be accompanied by assurance of his security and freedom. In his words: “The government should respect human and political rights. It should also stop banning political rallies that are allowed by the laws. None of these have been implemented; therefore it is too early to speak of returning home