(MISA/IFEX) – According to MISA, on 11 April 1998, Tanzanian police briefly detained and interrogated Balinagwe Mwambungu, the managing editor of “Mfanyakazi” newspaper. Mwambungu, who is also Chairman of the Journalists Environmental Association of Tanzania, was arrested at his Upanga residence in Dar es Salaam in connection with a story which appeared on the front […]
(MISA/IFEX) – According to MISA, on 11 April 1998, Tanzanian police briefly
detained and interrogated Balinagwe Mwambungu, the managing editor of
“Mfanyakazi” newspaper. Mwambungu, who is also Chairman of the Journalists
Environmental Association of Tanzania, was arrested at his Upanga residence
in Dar es Salaam in connection with a story which appeared on the front page
of the 11 April 1998 edition. The story suggested that the ruling party,
Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) was going “wayward” in addressing the issue of
Muslim fundamentalist riots at the Mwembechai mosque in Dar es Salaam.
The article claimed that two Members of Parliament from the ruling party
were detained on the night of 8 April 1998, together with 25 other people,
in a crackdown on suspected instigators of these riots. Police have since
denied this.
Mwambungu said he was interrogated for three hours and twenty minutes before
being released later in the day on a police bond, granted to him after
producing one surety.
He was ordered to report to the police frequently. The first appointment to
report was scheduled for 11 April 1998, but police sent him away with a
promise that they would get him when they needed him later.
On 14 April 1998, Mwambungu told “The African” newspaper that he believed
the
police would soon come for him. “They made it clear that they were yet to
complete the investigation into the allegations raised in the Mfanyakazi
story.”
“Mfanyakazi” is published by the Tanzania Federation of Free Trade Union
(TFTU).
