Fresh queries on legality of Ponda’s arrest

Dar es Salaam. Controversy has surfaced over the legality of Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda’s arrest as his family says it is gathering its own evidence to prove that the cleric was, in fact shot, by the law enforcers.

Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone commander Suleiman Kova told journalists on Monday that Sheikh Ponda, who is admitted at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI), is formally under arrest because he violated the conditions of his release after he was handed a one-year suspended sentence for trespassing in May.

He claimed that the cleric made inflammatory remarks in sermons he delivered in Zanzibar and Morogoro last week, contrary to the terms of his release.

But lawyers yesterday said by arresting Sheikh Ponda, on suspicion of violating the conditions of his discharge, the police were preempting the court which as of yesterday had not issued an arrest warrant.

“Because the court is the custodian of the ruling, it is the same court that should determine whether someone has violated the conditions of the same,’’ said one lawyer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr Kova did not specify whether the arrest was a result of any court order. Efforts to get him or the director of public prosecutions, Eliezer Feleshi, yesterday, to shed light on the matter, proved futile.

However, Sheikh Ponda’s lawyer Juma Nassor said as of yesterday evening, his client had not been served with any arrest order from the court.

“They have neither communicated to me nor my client on the arrest, but if it happens that we are summoned, my colleagues and I are ready to meet them in the corridors of justice,’’ said Mr Nassor.

Family seeks to prove police shot cleric

The family and followers of the cleric maintain he was shot by a police officer in a fracas with law enforcement agents in Morogoro last Saturday, the claim Morogoro Police commander Shilogile denied. Inspector General of Police Said Mwema has formed a team to investigate the alleged shooting, but Sheikh Ponda’s family said they would also conduct their own investigation to prove that the man was, in fact, shot by the law enforcers.

Family spokesperson Mr Isihaka Rashid said the family has communicated with the doctor who first attended to the sheikh and they have the statement on the cause of the wounds he sustained.

He said among other evidence they have at hand are photos and video clips taken during the chaos and when he was receiving treatment. He announced that the family does not have faith in IGP Mwema’s team.

“We won’t cooperate in its investigations, neither will we accept its outcome,” said Mr Rashid.

What if Ponda is found guilty?

If the court finds that Sheikh Ponda violated conditions of his suspended 12-month sentence, he may be jailed for the same period. Mr Francis Stolla, the President of Tanganyika Law Society, said he hasn’t yet seen Sheikh Ponda’s original sentence but, he noted, in an ideal situation if a person violates conditions of his suspended sentence, he is sent to serve a jail term equivalent to the period stipulated in the original sentence.

“This should not be confused with ‘conditional discharge’ where an offender is set free provided that he doesn’t commit another offence. If he does, he may be charged with the offence committed and might also be re-sentenced for the offence for which a conditional discharge was given,” he noted.

The DPP, Mr Feleshi told this paper on Monday Sheikh Ponda would be taken through the normal judicial procedure for a fresh court decision.

Meanwhile, politicians yesterday weighed in on the nature of Sheikh Ponda’s arrest and the increase in the use of excessive force by the police. Chadema reiterated its call on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate brutality and killings of civilians in police hands.

The opposition party has also condemned the alleged shooting of Sheikh Ponda in Morogoro, saying it is in concord with the “police’s usual violence against the innocent.”

Speaking to journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Prof Abdallah Safari said Chadema doesn’t trust the police investigation team led by Commissioner of Police Isaya Mungulu which is always sent to investigate incidents in which police are on record of killing.

For its part, CUF said it has confidence on the police probe team, but criticized its statement that it has seized Sheikh Ponda, saying it was too early to arrest the man.

CUF deputy director for publicity and public relation Mr Abdul Kambaya said Mr Kova’s statement that Ponda has been arrested may fuel chaos because it comes at a time when the IGP has formed a tem to investigate the matter.

“CUF is condemning the incident and we called on Mr Kova to always assess what he wants to say before he declares anything to the public,” he said.