Leading Kenyan lawyer and former Justice Minister Martha Karua has been deported from Tanzania, reportedly to prevent her from attending the court case of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is facing treason charges.
Karua, along with two colleagues, Gloria Kimani and Lynn Ngugi, was detained at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam and subjected to hours of unwarranted interrogation before being deported.
The trio had flown in from neighboring Kenya to observe Lissu’s trial, scheduled for Monday.
Karua, a respected human rights advocate and vocal critic of democratic backsliding in East Africa, has been representing Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, who faces similar treason charges.
The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition condemned the “arbitrary arrests,” noting that Karua had been allowed into Tanzania to observe proceedings when Lissu appeared in court on April 15.
The incident has sparked concerns about a crackdown on opposition in Tanzania ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in October.
Lissu’s Chadema party has been barred from contesting the poll after refusing to sign a code of conduct, which it sees as a ploy to contain the opposition.
The Kenyan government has expressed concern over Karua’s deportation, with the High Commission in Dar es Salaam engaging Tanzanian authorities to address the matter.
