An advocacy group on Tuesday announced that the Tanzanian police have arrested two prominent human rights activists who travelled to Dar es Salaam to observe a hearing.

According to the advocacy group, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire travelled to Dar es Salaam to observe a hearing in the treason case against detained opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

Mr Lissu first appeared in court on Monday in a case that has spotlighted a growing crackdown on opponents of President Samia Hassan.

The chief spokesperson for Tanzania’s Immigration Services Department, Paul Mselle, said he was not aware of Mr Mwangi and Mr Atuhaire’s arrests but would look into it.

Spokespeople for the government and police did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) said in a statement that Messrs Mwangi and Atuhaire were being held at the central police station in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

The statement added that Mr Mwangi was arrested on allegations of providing false information to gain entry into the country. It was not clear on what basis Mr Atuhaire had been detained.

Mr Mwangi, who helped lead anti-government protests in 2024 in Kenya, posted on X on Monday that men claiming to be police officers had come to his hotel room and that he would go with them once his lawyers arrived.

Several other Kenyan human rights activists who came to attend the hearing, including a former justice minister, said on social media posts or interviews that they were denied entry to Tanzania.

President Hassan, who is seeking re-election in October, said the government was committed to respecting human rights following a series of high-profile arrests of political opponents.

The president, however, warned foreign activists against “invading and interfering in our affairs” in a public remark on Monday.

Mr Lissu, who was shot 16 times in a 2017 attack and came second in the last presidential poll, had refused to participate in a hearing on April 24 because authorities conducted a virtual, rather than an in-person, trial.

He was charged with treason in April over what prosecutors said was a speech calling on the public to rebel and disrupt the elections.

His CHADEMA party has demanded changes to an electoral process they say favours the ruling party before they participate in the ballot.

He entered the court on Monday with his fist raised in the air as supporters chanted, “No Reforms, No Election.”

(Reuters/NAN)