A Tanzanian court on Monday sentenced a lawmaker from the main opposition CHADEMA party, Joseph Mbilinyi to 5 months in jail for using abusive language on the country’s president John Magufuli.
According to a court document seen by Reuters, the court accused Mbilinyi of associating Magufuli with an alleged assassination attempt on vocal opposition MP Tundu Lissu last year.
“Mbilinyi … used insulting language against President John Magufuli … likely to cause breach of peace,” said part of the charge sheet. According to Tanzania’s penal code, “any person who uses obscene, abusive or insulting language to any other person in such a manner as is likely to cause a breach of the peace” faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
Lissu was shot several times by unknown gunmen in September and was taken abroad for treatment where he is yet to return. He was seen as a fierce critic of Magufuli’s government.
The opposition party plans to appeal against the rule.
Insulting the president on social media was made a criminal offence under a cybercrimes law passed in 2015 before Magufuli came into office.
