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Mrema, Lissu, Nshala to be arrested for failure to appear in court
2007-09-19 09:04:28
By Rosemary Mirondo
Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday issued a warrant of arrest to the Chairman of Tanzania Labour Party Augustine Mrema, Tundu Lissu and Rugemereza Nshala for failure to appear in court for a sedition trial.
Lissu who is a prominent lawyer residing in the city together with his co-accused are charged with sedition.
The absence of the accused was tangibly felt in court when Inspector of Police Phamphil Mollery undertook to call the accused to appear in the accused dock ready for the court to begin its business, but only to learn in disappointment that none was in attendance.
The non-attendance of the accused surprised the court causing Resident Magistrate Said Msuya to intervene by way of a question to the prosecutor to establish the whereabouts of the accused or their sureties.
However, responding to the question the prosecutor told the court he had no information whatsoever on the accused, hence the issuance of the order.
He, however, noted that Mrema had last attended in court.
This is the second time the court has issued a warrant of arrest to the accused. In the past the order was made against Lissu and Nshala but the present order had been made against all the accused.
In the present case Augustine Mrema and Tundu Lissu are charged with uttering seditious words to the effect that the government caused the death of small scale miners at Bulyankulu, in Shinyanga Region, which words were likely to cause breach of peace.
It is alleged that the seditious words were uttered in 2001 at the office of TLP. The case was adjourned to October 19, this year.
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