Lack of sureties sends Jamii Forum founder to remand prison

MAUREEN ODUNGA

JAMII Media Co Limited’s co-founder Maxence Melo Mubyazi was yesterday remanded due to failure to secure bail in one of the three cases he faces before a Dar es Salaam court.

Forty-year old Mubyazi appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate court charged with obstructing investigation and managing a domain without registration, contrary to the Cyber Crime Act, No 14 of 2015 and the Electronic and Postal Communications Act, No 3 of 2010.

Before three different magistrates, the social media founder pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Senior State Attorney Mohammed Salum who prosecuted all the cases before Senior Resident Magistrates, Thomas Simba, Victoria Nongwa and Godfrey Mwambapa, informed the court that investigations were incomplete.

Advocate Jebra Kambole for the accused requested the court to grant bail to the defendant in the case before Magistrate Simba, saying the count was bailable.

The accused was granted bail on conditions that he avails two reliable sureties who will each sign a 10m/- bond. In another case before Magistrate Nongwa, the accused was granted bail subject to presenting two reliable sureties with himself, each signing the 1m/- bond.

Before Magistrate Mwambapa, the accused was required to present two reliable sureties, each signing the 5m/- bond as well as not travelling outside Dar es Salaam region without a court permission. Mubyazi failed to meet the bail conditions in the third case because only one surety had all the necessary documents.

Reading the charges, the prosecutor alleged that on diverse dates between December 9, 2011 and December 13, 2016 at Mikocheni area in Kinondoni District in the city, the accused, as the Director of Jamii Media Co Ltd, operated and used a website known as jamiiforums. com.

It was alleged that the website was not registered in the Tanzanian Country code Top LEVEL Domain (ccTLD), dotz. In the second count, Mubyazi stands accused of obstructing investigations.

The prosecutor charged that on diverse dates between January 2016 and December 13, 2016, the defendant refused to disclose data in his possession as demanded by the Tanzania Police Force, which were conducting criminal investigations on electronic communication published on the website.

The prosecutor further claimed in the third case that on April 1, 2016 and December 13, 2016, at the same occasion and location, the businessman refused to disclose data in his possession as demanded by the Tanzania Police Force.

The second and third cases have similar charges, with only different dates of committing the crimes.

The cases were adjourned to December 29, 2016 and January 16, 2017, with the police escorting the accused to remand prison in a police vehicle with registration numbers T717 DBV.