Tanzania president justifies killing of protesters

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday justified the killing of protesters during recent election unrest, saying it was necessary to prevent the overthrow of the government. Opposition and rights groups say more than 1,000 people were shot dead during three days of protests over the election of October 29, which they say was rigged. “The force that was used corresponds to the situation at hand. When we are told that we used excessive force in that incident… Were we supposed to simply watch that mob of demonstrators who were prepared to overthrow the government until they succeeded?” Hassan said in a speech in Tanzania’s economic capital, Dar es Salaam. She retained the presidency with 98 per cent of the vote, but the main opposition candidates were either imprisoned or disqualified. Her government has yet to say how many were killed during the unrest amid reports that many bodies were never returned to families. Fresh protests have been called for December 9. Hassan criticised European Union parliamentarians after they voted last week to suspend aid to Tanzania over the violence. “They still think they are our masters, they are our colonisers,” Hassan said. She also claimed the opposition candidates were not barred from taking part in the election, but “refused to enter themselves because they already knew they would not succeed”. Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, refused to sign a new “electoral code of conduct” this year, saying there must first be reforms to create a fairer playing field after years of rigged votes. Chadema leader Tundu Lissu was then arrested and charged with treason, which carries the death penalty. Opposition parties accuse the authorities of a campaign of abductions and murders in the run-up to recent votes, targeting even low-level online critics of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, which has never been out of power.

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