Following the arrest and detention of Tanzanian investigative journalist Erick Kabendera, Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, Joan Nyanyuki, said:

“The arrest of Erick Kabendera is an assault on press freedom and further underlines the rising repression of journalists and perceived government critics in Tanzania, where people have been killed, physically assaulted, threatened, harassed or abducted for expressing their views.”

Kabendera was taken by six men in plainclothes from his home in Dar es Salaam on 29 July without explanation, according to family sources. The following day, police called a press conference and announced he was being held in relation to his citizenship.

“It is outrageous for the police to arrest the journalist and hold him incommunicado for more than 24 hours, then claim they are querying his citizenship. Erick Kabendera must be released immediately and unconditionally.”