(AFMF/IFEX) – On 24 March 2006, four Kenyan journalists were arrested and detained by Tanzanian immigration officers while covering court proceedings in Moshi town. The journalists, Dominic Wabala and Fredrick Omondi of the “Nation” newspaper and Kimei arap Kimili and Michael Kinja of Citizen TV, were whisked from the Moshi district court and taken to […]
(AFMF/IFEX) – On 24 March 2006, four Kenyan journalists were arrested and detained by Tanzanian immigration officers while covering court proceedings in Moshi town.
The journalists, Dominic Wabala and Fredrick Omondi of the “Nation” newspaper and Kimei arap Kimili and Michael Kinja of Citizen TV, were whisked from the Moshi district court and taken to the regional immigration office in Kilimanjaro, where they were held for three hours.
A senior policeman only identified as “Mr. Mbise” pushed cameramen Omondi and Kinja and threatened to beat them when they were filming.
The four were covering a case in which 12 Kenyans have been charged with robbery, violence and murder. The journalists had arrived at the court at 8:00 a.m. (local time) and were granted permission to cover the proceedings by the Moshi chief magistrate, Hurbert George.
After the suspects were taken to the court, the regional crime officer in Kilimanjaro, Hezron Luhaya Kigondo, called immigration officials and informed them that the journalists were in the country illegally.
The journalists were taken to the immigration office, where their passports were seized and they were detained.
The officer in charge of investigations and prosecutions at the immigration office told the journalists that they were working in Tanzania illegally because they were required to pay 7,235 Kenyan shillings (approx. $US100) each, although this had not been requested of them at the point of entry.
The journalists were released after the intervention of two Tanzanian lawyers and the Moshi chief magistrate, who said they had committed no offence.
