Lissu faces seditious material publication charges

FAUSTINE KAPAMA

SINGIDA East Constituency’s Member of Parliament (MP) Tundu Lissu.

SINGIDA East Constituency’s Member of Parliament (MP) Tundu Lissu, appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam facing counts relating to publishing and printing seditious materials.

He was joined in the case also involving a Senior Journalist, Simon Mkina and a businessman, Ismail Mehbood. The lawmaker under Chadema ticket denied the charges before Principal Resident Magistrate Thomas Simba.

The charges include conspiracy to publish a seditious publication, publishing and printing a seditious publication and printing a newspaper without submission of an affidavit. There was an alternative count of intimidation to the charge of publishing seditious publication.

The magistrate granted him bail on conditions of securing two reliable sureties each. Every surety, according to the magistrate, was required to sign a bond of 10m/-. The case was adjourned to July 11, for delivery of a ruling on validity of the charges and jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.

Before adjournment of the trial, State Attorney Paul Kadushi responded to two preliminary points given by Advocate Peter Kibatala, for the accused persons, who had submitted that counts of conspiracy and that of intimidation should be “striken out” for lack of consent of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The advocate had told the court that the DPP has only provided consent in respect of count relating to printing seditious publication. In respect of other counts, the advocate submitted that they were also defective for lack of sufficient particulars and ingredients of the offences charged.

Mr Kadushi conceded to the first point relating to conspiracy and intimidation charges in that no consent of the DPP has been provided to confer court’s jurisdiction to determine them and requested the court to discharge the accused persons in respect of those counts.

He submitted that any criminal offence must contain two main elements, which are statement and particulars of the offence.

“All these elements have been included in the charge sheet. We have indicated specific provision of law under which the offences were committed. Even the particulars contain all essential ingredients of the offence charged,” he told the court.

Reading the charges earlier, the trial attorney claimed that between January 12 and 14, this year, at unknown place in the city, Yunus, Mkina and Lissu conspired together to publish a seditious publication.

The publication bore title “Machafuko yaja Zanzibar,” in Mawio newspaper dated January 14, 2016.