DPP drops terrorism charges against 12, court sets them free

By Hadija Jumanne

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Dar es Salaam. The Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court has dismissed five terrorism cases and set free 12 accused persons , who were facing charges of

conspiracy to commit terrorism.

The move comes after the Director of Public Prosecutions in Tanzania (DPP) informed the Court that he had no intention of proceeding with the charges against them.

The accused who were set free are Seif Mwishehe, Yusuph Rajabu, Buheti Buheti, Juma Athuman, Ally Nassoro popularly known as Omary Swala, Hassan Mnele and six others.

The decision to dismiss the cases was handed down today, March 1, 2022 by five different Magistrates, namely Chief Resident Magistrate Evodia Kyaruzi, Huruma Shahidi and Yusto Ruboroga, after the prosecution filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the accused.

 A panel of four prosecuting attorneys led by Senior State Counsel, Waziri Magumbo, assisted by Ramadhani Kalinga, Ashura Mzava and Yusuph Avoid, told the court that the cases were called for mention but the DPP decided to not proceed with the case against the defendants.

Magumbo claimed that the accused had their charges dropped under section 91 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), chapter 20, which was amended in 2019.

Defendants are alleged to have committed offenses on December 23, 2015 and 2016 in various regions in the country including, Dar es Salaam and Manyovu area in Kigoma region.