Treason trial peaceful

The hearing of the trial of 18 opposition Civic Union Front (CUF) leaders and members charged with treason resumed peacefully on Thursday at Zanzibar’s High Court, despite fears that it would spark street violence as its opening session had on 19 January. “Everything went on very well and quietly. The streets were deserted,” a government official told IRIN on Thursday. “In fact, the case was adjourned to 28 February,” he added. The official said that he believed that with the new Attorney-General, the case would move faster. Meanwhile, 45 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Tanzania mainland’s ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) have petitioned the Zanzibar President Salmin Amour to drop the treason charges against 18 CUF members saying “it is political and lowers the dignity of the nation”, the ‘Guardian’ newspaper reported on Thursday. The politicians said they had been closely following the treason trial and thought the Commonwealth-brokered political agreement between CUF and CCM would have provided an outlet for the dropping of the treason charges. As a result of the trial, “hundreds of Zanzibaris would spend most of their time following up the case and might face the police might, instead of engaging themselves in productive work,” the MPs said. Amour’s opponents and the opposition would be very happy if this situation continued up to October 2000 during general elections, “for them to claim that CCM has failed to bring about peace and tranquillity...,” they added. Norwegian Ambassador to Tanzania Nils-Johan Jorgensen told IRIN on Thursday it was time the Zanzibar government and the ruling party sorted out the current stalemate in the isles. “It is a crisis crying for a solution,” he said. “There is a stalemate and the ongoing court case is making the situation even more complex,” Jorgensen said, adding that the Commonwealth initiative had not lead to much. “It needs a political solution before the forthcoming general elections or maybe through the elections. The focus now is on the stalemate, but it really ought to be solved to enable the focus to be shifted to the elections ... For the sake of the image of the country, the ruling party should resolve this problem to enable it start dealing with bigger problems. One would wish all these be solved to bring new impetus in the island so that development activities and education could be addressed. The (governing) party will have to sort out this, it has to come from inside, and it is upon party members to put pressure where it is needed,” Jorgensen added.