Tanzanian politician arrested for 'insulting' president

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A senior leader of a Tanzanian opposition party has been arrested for allegedly insulting President John Magufuli.

Julius Mtatiro, Chairman  of the National Leadership Committee of the of the Civic United Front (CUF), was arrested on Thursday and released on bail on Friday. He has been asked to report back at the Dar es Salaam Central Police Station on Monday, 9th July at 8 am.

He was arrested for posting a question “Who is the President, really?” on his Facebook page.

Police detained him as they found this phrase  offensive to the president and went on to search Mtatiro’s home for the device used to post on social media.
Mtatiro had reposted in solidarity with a young man in North Western Tanzania, who originally raised the question on his Facebook page and was himself arrested three days ago.