Tanzania Opposition Condemns Arrest of Chadema Party Members
Voice of America
DAR ES SALAAM - Opposition and rights activists in Tanzania have condemned the arrest of several members of the country's main opposition Chadema party, who were to hold a forum to discuss constitutional reforms. The action happened while Chadema leader Freeman Mbowe remains behind bars facing terrorism-related charges that his party has branded a bid by President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government to silence the opposition.
The condemnations came after police in Musoma, a town in Mara region in the northern part of Tanzania, Saturday arrested nine members of the main opposition Chadema party who were organizing a symposium on a new constitution. In a post shared on Twitter, the Chadema party said it was following the incident, which it said suppresses democracy. The statement said, “We strongly condemn this blatant violation of the constitution and rule of law, sowing the seeds of hatred, discrimination, and discord within communities,” It also protested against what the party called the “suppression of democratic rights” by police and other security forces.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.