This archive report was first published on 30 July 2019.
On July 29, 2019, Tanzanian police detained freelance journalist Erick Kabendera, who writes for The East African, over concerns about his citizenship.
According to Lazaro Mambosasa, a police spokesman, Kabendera was taken into custody after failing to honor a police summons.
‘He failed to honour so we helped him honour the summons,’ Mambosasa said.
Police claim that Kabendera was being questioned because his citizenship is in doubt.
He was taken to Oysterbay Police Station in Dar es Salaam, where he was still being questioned at the time of publishing.
A video of the incident has been shared online, showing Kabendera being taken away from his home in a Dar es Salaam suburb by people claiming to be police officers.
