Tanzanian court sets free senior editors free from seditious case

It was jubilation among journalists at the Tanzanian court grounds Wednesday when a magistrate set free top and senior editors who were accused by the Tanzanian government over a sedition crime.

It was jubilation among journalists at the Tanzanian court grounds Wednesday when a magistrate set free top and senior editors who were accused by the Tanzanian government over a sedition crime.

The two senior editors, Mr. Absalom Kibanda and Mr. Theophil Makunga, were set free by the Principal Resident Magistrate Waliarwande Lema after the Tanzanian government failed to submit substantial evidence to justify seditious allegations against the duo.

Scores of senior editors and reporters from all leading media houses in Tanzania gathered at the Court building in the Tanzanian capital city of Dar es Salaam to observe and record the ruling of the crime case facing the two editors whom the Tanzanian government claimed to have published and printed a news article in a local tabloid pinpointing state police and other security units.

It was mid-morning when the Magistrate delivered the verdict and freed the two senior editors who, according to Tanzanian law, were facing a jail term if found guilty.

Police and the government prosecutors alleged in their affidavit that on November 30, 2011, the editors, using their professional and work roles, published and printed a seditious publication through a local newspaper contrary to Tanzania’s Newspapers Act of 2002.

But the magistrate found no substantial and relevant legal facts to justify prosecution submissions as to prove seditious materials in the content of the news article, and then set free the two editors.

Mr. Kibanda is the managing editor of New Habari Corporation and chairman of the Tanzania Editors Forum, an apex body for senior editors in this country. Mr. Makunga is the senior editor for Mwananchi Communications Limited, a leading media house in Tanzania.

The release of two editors was a blessing to Tanzanian journalists who have been operating under fear from government security units and the police force.

The Tanzanian government has been using draconian laws against media and its editors, threatening them with huge fines and jail terms when reporting news against the government and its top political leaders.

There have been incidents of police brutality against journalists reporting political news, ranging from killing, beating, confiscation of cameras, and frequent invasions of newsrooms looking for raw news items.

News on corruption, injustice, and misappropriation of public funds within the Tanzanian government’s administration has been catching headlines in leading local newspapers and free radio stations in the country.

Crime in the poaching of elephants and other wildlife species had attracted the Tanzanian media outlets to report, while slavery within big private business companies is a new form of injustice which the media has been reporting, touching top corrupt government and political figures.

Still under a communist mindset, Tanzanian political leaders are looking to impose harsh penalties to journalists found publishing news targeting to expose social evils within the government.

The release of the two senior editors from the noose had set a starting point for the Tanzanian media fraternity to fight against draconian laws currently in place.

The Media Council of Tanzania had earlier cautioned the government of Tanzania over the use of outdated media law that would tarnish the image of this nation among its citizens and outside its boundaries.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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