Date set for petition on unbailable offences

Dar es Salaam. The High Court of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam will on February 25 this year start hearing cases filed by human rights activists concerning the proceedings of cases involving economic sabotage charges.
The cases - numbers 35 and 36 of 2019 - were filed by human rights activities, including two officials of the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC), Mr Onesmo Olengurumwa and Mr Paul Kassabo.
The cases were filed against the Attorney General (AG) of Tanzania, and will be heard by a team of three judges, namely Judge Denhajj Masoud, Judge Yose Mlyambina and Judge Juliana Masabo.
In the cases, the petitioners are praying for an injunction against the section of the economic sabotage law which denies bail for accused persons, as well as the section which directs accused people to be charged in courts which have no jurisdiction to hear such cases.
The plaintiffs also ask the court to order a revisit of section 178 of the economic sabotage Act, saying it fuels investigation delays. On another front, the plaintiffs claim that the law has not created a procedure to ensure that investigations are done in accordance with the law - and that accused persons appear in courts vested with jurisdiction to hear such cases.
“Article 178 of the Criminal Procedure Act (Act of 2002, section 20) states that, when a case is filed in a court which has no jurisdiction to preside, and when investigation is completed, such court should give an order for the case to be transferred the High Court,” the plaintiffs argue.
The plaintiffs also requested the High Court to declare that articles 178, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 256, 257, 258 and 259 of the Criminal Procedure Act were at cross-purposes with the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, and should be deleted.
The defending lawyers, Mr Abubakar Mrisho and Ms Vivian Method, requested the High Court to give them more time to respond to the plaintiffs’ arguments, as they did not have the necessary documents.
The plaintiffs - represented by Mr Daimu Khaliphan and Mr Jeremiah Musobesya - raised no objection to the defendants’ request.
The team of judges, led by Dr Masoud, agreed with the defendants’ request, giving them seven days in which to file their response. The cases were set for hearing on February 25 this year.