Tanzania's defeated opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu was arrested on Monday, over a call for mass protests against what he said were rigged elections, police told AFP.
"We have just arrested him in Dar es Salaam when he was disembarking from the European Union offices," Dar es Salaam Regional Police Commander Lazaro Mambosasa said.
"It's in connection with the banned protest."
Lissu's arrest came hours after that of the chairman of his Chadema party, Freeman Mbowe, and six other top opposition members.
Chadema and fellow opposition party ACT-Wazalendo rejected results which saw President John Magufuli win a second term with 84 per cent of results and his ruling party take 97 per cent of seats in parliament.
They had called for mass protests on Monday as well as fresh elections.
Jeffrey Smith of Vanguard Africa, a pro-democracy nonprofit organisation based in Washington, told AFP that Lissu -- who has partnered with them -- told him on the phone earlier he had been seeking diplomatic protection for several hours without luck.
Lissu, 52, returned to Tanzania in July after spending three years abroad recovering from an assassination attempt he believes was politically motivated, in which he was shot 16 times.
(Published 02 November 2020, 16:53 IST)
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