A prominent opposition figure in Tanzania has been charged with using abusive language after he called the president a dictator.
Tundu Lissu of the Chadema party had been in police custody since on Thursday. A magistrate’s court in Dar es Salaam denied him bail on Monday and remanded him to jail.
It is not immediately clear what sentence the charge carries.
In a news conference last week Lissu rebuked the government for alleged attacks on the opposition and the media, and urged Western donors to freeze aid to the government.
Since his election in 2015 Tanzanian President John Magufuli has faced growing charges of intolerance for criticism in the East African nation.
Live transmission of parliamentary debates has stopped, and opposition rallies have been banned until the next election cycle in 2020.
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AP
