A prominent Tanzanian journalist arrested in July was released on Monday after pleading guilty of tax evasion and money laundering in a case critics had said was politically motivated.
After Erick Kabendera acknowledged both crimes in court and agreed to fines of nearly 275 million shillings ($119,305.86), magistrate Janeth Mtega ruled he be freed, a Reuters report said.
“Finally I’ve got my freedom, it’s quite unexpected that I would be out this soon. I’m really grateful to everybody who played their role,” the 39-year-old investigative reporter said outside court.
In the charge sheet, prosecutors said Kabendera had with his wife – who was not detained or charged – registered two companies which were used as “vehicles of money laundering” without proper returns being filed.
Though his lawyers had originally rejected the charges, in October they said he was pursuing a plea bargain.
The reporter has written for international publications including Britain’s Guardian and Times and was known for pursuing politically-sensitive investigations.
One article last year published by the East African newspaper reported a rift in President John Magufuli’s government with the headline “No end in sight as Tanzania’s ruling party CCM goes for ‘dissenters’.”
After he was arrested at his home last year, the United States and Britain called the affair “irregular” and in violation of Tanzania’s criminal procedures law.
Rights groups saw the case as part of a pattern of tighter control on the media since the 2015 election of Magufuli.
“The outrageous fabricated charges against him show the intolerance of the Tanzanian authorities to any criticism,” Amnesty International said in a statement last year.
Magufuli’s administration has shut down newspapers, fined some critical outlets, arrested opposition leaders and restricted political rallies.
The government denies it is muzzling the media.
Several hours after the ruling, the journalist’s lawyer Jebra Kambole said he had paid the 100 million shilling fine for one of the charges and would pay the other within six months.
A third charge, of assisting a criminal racket, was dropped.
Held at the Segerea maximum security prison on the outskirts of the capital Dar es Salaam, the journalist had appeared in court more than ten times, sometimes appearing frail.
In September, Magufuli said that people held on charges of tax evasion, money laundering and other financial crimes should be freed if they confess and return the cash.
Tanzanian journalist pleads guilty to tax evasion, freed after plea bargain
