Police release Mazrui after holding him for two weeks

Zanzibar. Police here yesterday released the ACT-Wazalendo Deputy Secretary General (Zanzibar) Nassor Ahmed Mazrui after holding him for over two weeks behind bars.

Released alongside Mr Mazrui is former Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) commissioner Ayoub Khamis Bakar, the opposition party’s lawyer, Mr Omar Saidi Shabani, confirmed yesterday. He did not reveal the conditions attached to the release. Police Commissioner Mohamed Haji Hassan said he would issue a detailed statement later on the release.

ACT-Wazalendo said on October 31 that Mr Mazrui was arrested on October 28 and that his whereabouts remained unknown until that time.

“We have not seen or heard from Mr Mazrui since he was taken three days ago. We are also looking for 30 other members. We don’t know their whereabouts. We’ve visited nearly all police stations, and they keep giving us the same answer: they were not there,” the ACT-Wazalendo public relations secretary, Mr Salum Bimani, said on October 31.

The party appealed to the international community, particularly the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN) and human rights defenders to intervene and pressure authorities from illegally holding of its members before, during and after elections. A day later, police finally admitted they were holding Mr Mazrui.

Isles’ Police Commissioner Mohammed Haji Hassan told reporters on November 1 that ACT- Wazalendo’s Mazrui and 32 other members were arrested on October 28 over allegations of possessing devices that could interfere with the electoral system. Other accusations against Mazrui and his fellow members were their relations with a man who allegedly carried bombs, allegedly planned to be planted in various parts of Zanzibar.

Commander Mohammed said the suspects were arrested during the mid-night hours when vote counting was going on. According to him, during an inspection at the hotel, police officers found Mr Mazrui and 32 other people. They had 34 laptops, iPads and mobile phones, he said.

Apart from Mr Mazrui, other ACT-Wazalendo leaders who have gone through hardships with authorities during this year’s General Election include Mr Ismail Jussa Ladhu, the party’s Zanzibar presidential candidate Seif Shariff Hamad and Prof Omar Fakih. Mr Ladhu who was detained and reportedly beaten. He remains hospitalized.

Through its twitter handle, ACT-Wazalendo showed pictures of Mr Jussa in a hospital bed with visible marks of injuries.

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By Muhammed Khamis @TheCitizenTZ [email protected]