Tanzania’s main opposition party on Thursday called on its supporters to demonstrate at a courthouse where its leader is set to appear next week on treason charges, despite police warnings against the protest.
The east African nation's authorities have increasingly cracked down on its opposition and last week Chadema leader Tundu Lissu was detained along with other party members.
Speaking at a rally, Chadema deputy chairman John Heche urged supporters to gather in court on April 24 to show solidarity with Lissu.
Lissu's Chadema party has accused President Samia Suluhu Hassan of returning to the repressive tactics of her predecessor ahead of October's general election.
A day earlier, Heche had instructed his party's supporters to avoid causing disruption during the gathering and to "tie a white cloth around your arm to show that we are calling for peace".
"We will go from street to street to ensure that people turn out," Heche said.
But on Thursday Tanzanian police warned against the planned gathering at the court, accusing the opposition of "inciting unrest".
"The police warn all individuals inciting others to support this ill-intentioned plan, and we urge them to refrain from participating," Dar es Salaam regional police chief Muliro Jumanne told reporters.
Jumanne added that those found liable will "face firm legal action".
Heche dismissed the police warning, saying "there is no law that grants" police "such authority".
Tanzania is scheduled to hold presidential and national assembly elections in October.
Earlier this week, the main opposition party was barred from the upcoming polls after refusing to sign an electoral code of conduct.
The party said it did not sign due to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s "lack of a written response" to its "proposals and demands for essential electoral reforms".
Last year, Lissu warned that Chadema would "block the elections through confrontation" unless the electoral system was reformed.
The opposition's demands have been long ignored by the ruling party.
Rights groups and Western governments have criticised what they see as renewed repression, with the arrests of Chadema politicians as well as abductions and murders of opposition figures.
Amnesty International has called for the unconditional release of Lissu.
