Tanzania court bans live coverage of opposition leader's treason trial

[Desmond Milligan 0]

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) -A court in Tanzania on Monday banned the live coverage of treason proceedings against the East African nation's main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, who criticised the decision.

Principal Resident Magistrate Franco Kiswaga said the ban would help protect civilian prosecution witnesses, acceding to a request by the state prosecutor who said it was necessary to conceal their identities.

"Live streaming, live broadcast, and any other kind of live distribution of content online to the public including on social media or video broadcast ... are hereby prohibited," Kiswaga ruled during preliminary proceedings on Monday at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam.

Lissu had already opposed the request saying that such an order would allow the court to operate in "darkness" and prevent his supporters from following the case. Officials from his CHADEMA party also criticised the court's order.

"Justice must be done and be seen to be done," Lissu, who is representing himself after dismissing his attorneys, said last week.

Lissu is the leader of Tanzania's biggest opposition party and has been in detention since early April after he was charged with treason and publication of false information. He has rejected the charges.

Lissu, who was shot 16 times in a 2017 assassination attempt, was runner-up in the 2020 presidential election but his party has been disqualified from participating in October's presidential and parliamentary votes.

His detention and unexplained abductions of government critics in recent months have shone a spotlight on the human rights record of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who says her government is committed to respecting human rights.

Hassan is running for the presidency for the first time after assuming office following the death of her predecessor John Magufuli in 2021.

(Editing by Elias Biryabarema, Ammu Kannampilly and Alison Williams)

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