Who is Maxence Melo, Tanzanian founder of JamiiForums arrested for not disclosing anonymous sources?
- Tanzanian authorities say Melo should identity those who post sensitive information on his popular blogging site.
The co-founder of JamiiForums, Maxence Melo, is accused of failing to disclose the identity of contributors who allegedly posted sensitive information on his social media and news platform.
The co-founder of JamiiForums, a blogging platform seen by many as Tanzania's top whistleblowing site – remains in custody after his arrest yesterday (13 December).
Maxence Melo, who co-founded the news site, was arrested for a
llegedly refusing to disclose the identities of anonymous bloggers and contributors who, the Tanzanian authorities claim, posted sensitive information on
his popular blogging site.
While Tanzanian police failed to bring the owner to court in the main city of Dar es Salaam, where he was expected to appear,
according to BBC, his lawyer Benedict Ishabakaki described his detention as unlawful. Under Tanzanian law, it is unlawful for a person to be held for more than 24 hours without being charged.
The founder of Jamii Media, which owns JamiiForums, has faced heavy pressure from the authorities since he founded the site in 2006. A year later, JamiiForums exposed an energy deal corruption scandal, dubbed the Richmond scandal, which effectively led to the Prime Minister Edward Lowassa's resignation and dissolution of his cabinet, in 2008.
After the General Elections of October 2010, President Jakaya Kikwete allegedly made the news site an "enemy of the state" and the ruling party – Chama cha Mapinduzi, CCM - accused the micro site favouring the opposition, and being "anti-CCM" and "anti-government". CCM claimed the site was to blame for a
20% fall in voter support since its launch. Revelations about
another energy scandal in 2014 also led to the sacking of several ministers, including housing minister Anna Tibaijuka by Kikwete
Questioned dozens of times, Melo – who has always encouraged the publication of sensitive information about the government – has also been
detained on several occasions and received death threats. Jamii Media's equipment was confiscated, and the forum shut down. At the time, he told the Guardian: "They used to say: 'We are going to come with a law that will force you to give us whatever document [or] details we need."
And indeed, in May 2015, a law – dubbed the Jamii bill – was passed. The bill makes it a crime to share information deemed "false, deceptive, misleading or inaccurate", and stipulates that internet service and mobile phone providers should disclose the identities and details of users without formally letting them know.
Melo was one of the ardent critics of
Tanzania's Cybercrimes Act, described it as a legal clampdown on social media and free speech. It is precisely under this bill that Melo could now be facing court.
While Ishabakaki said his client had "no knowledge" of the most recent case in which he is accused of refusing to reveal the identity of the subscribers who published information on his site, police claim "they have been writing to the company management [for the past three months] demanding the disclosure of the names of individuals providing sensitive information",
The Citizen reports.
"They claim what has been posted, include the theft of fuel at the Dar es Salaam Port, corruption in public offices and tax evasion. Probably, those named in the reports complained to the police, wanting the disclosure of the names of subscribers," Ishabakaki said.
The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net) previously condemned Melo's detention, stating: "Freedom of expression is not a prerogative of the Tanzanian authorities and is provided for not only by Tanzania's Constitution but also by other regional and international human rights instruments".
When called for comment, Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander Simon Siro declined to comment.
Source:
Who is Maxence Melo, Tanzanian founder of JamiiForums arrested for not disclosing anonymous sources?
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Fox News: Co-founder of Tanzania whistleblowing website arrested
Published December 14, 2016
Associated Press
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DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – Tanzanian police have searched the home and office of the co-founder of a whistleblowing website after he was arrested for not disclosing the identities of people who posted there.
Officers escorted JamiiForums co-founder Maxence Melo to his home and office Wednesday before returning him to the central police station. He was detained on Tuesday.
Melo's lawyer, Benedict Ishabakaki, says the arrest comes after JamiiForums filed a case with the High Court of Tanzania. The case asks the court to review sections of the law that allow "extensive powers of law enforcement officers to search and seize electronic devices and computer systems."
The police did not give details about Melo's arrest.
Human rights groups have expressed dissatisfaction with the government of President John Magufuli on freedom of expression and other issues.
Source: Co-founder of Tanzania whistleblowing website arrested
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New York Times: Co-Founder of Tanzania Whistleblowing Website Arrested
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/201...-af-tanzania-whistleblowing-website.html?_r=0
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ALERTS | TANZANIA
CPJ - Commitee to Protect Journalists: Tanzania police raid popular website's office in effort to learn users' identities
Nairobi, December 14, 2016--Tanzanian security forces should immediately and unconditionally release Maxence Melo, the co-founder of popular online discussion portal Jamii Forum, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police raided the website's office in the capital Dar es Salaam today, after detaining Melo yesterday.
Melo's lawyer, Benedict Ishabakaki, told the independent newspaper The Citizenthat police detained his client yesterday for interrogation regarding a case police filed demanding his cooperation in determining the identities of several users of the online forum who have written about such controversial issues as corruption. Today the website reported that police raided its office, questioned employees about their duties, and took two additional employees, whom the website did not name, to a police station for further questioning.
Founded in 2006, Jamii Forum is among the most popular online discussion sites in East Africa, and hosts frank debates about such topics as graft in the public sector and government incompetence, mostly in Kiswahili.
"Maxence Melo and Jamii Forum give people across the region an important platform to discuss serious issues of public concern," CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal said from New York. "The Tanzanian government would do better to investigate allegations of corruption, rather than pressuring a website to violate its users' trust and privacy."
Reporting the police raid today, Jamii Forum attempted to reassure readers about the security of their personal information, which the website said was encrypted on servers located outside Tanzania.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has taken a series of steps to limit media freedom since he was elected in October 2015.
On November 15, 2016, he signed into law new regulations that journalists and the political opposition fear will curb press freedom by requiring journalists and social media users to be licensed by a Media Services Council, whose independence free expression groups feared was not adequately protected, among other measures, according to The Citizen newspaper.
At least 10 Tanzanians have been charged with "insulting" president Magufuli, including on the messaging platform WhatsApp, according to media reports. All have been charged under a tough cybercrimes law enacted in 2015, and are at various stages of the legal process, the reports said.
Neville Meena, secretary of the Tanzania Editors Forum, told CPJ that the cybercrime law was being used as a tool to censor the public and the media and to limit criticism of the government. He said the organization backed a case filed by Jamii Media, which runs Jamii Forums, to have sections of the law overturned by the High Court of Tanzania. The court is expected to rule in February, Meena said.
Tanzanian authorities have also shuttered radio stations, halted live transmissionof parliamentary debates, and taken dozens of newspapers off the streets for what the government described as licensing violations, according to news accounts.
Tanzanian government spokesman Hassan Abass did not immediately return CPJ's calls and text messages requesting comment.
Source: Tanzania police raid popular website's office in effort to learn users' identities - Committee to Protect Journalists