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Muslims Tried for Staging Demo in Tanzania
DAR ES SALAAM, Aug 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Some 41 Muslims were charged in a magistrate's court Monday for rioting and illegal assembly, offenses linked to a demonstration held last week to protest the arrest of a Muslim preacher who said that Jesus was not God, news agencies reported.
Charges against the 41, who were protesting against a jail term, now revoked, handed down in July to a Muslim preacher for allegedly disparaging Christianity for "Jesus not God" remarks, also included refusing to obey lawful order, attacking police and malicious damage to property, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The accused all pleaded not guilty and were remanded until September 5, when a ruling on bail is due, AFP said.
Some appeared in court Monday wearing bandages and others wore blood-stained clothes.
Riot police armed with batons, tear gas and water canons clashed Friday with hundreds of Muslim protestors who attempted to take part in the demonstration, which was declared illegal on Thursday.
"The police are still investigating the matter and more people may be arrested in connection with last Friday's riots," police prosecutor, Reinhard Lisapita, said, quoted by AFP.
The accused were among 171 Muslims arrested after taking part in the demonstration.
The High Court in Dar es Salaam notably reviewed the Islamic preacher's sentence and set him free on Friday on grounds that the sentence was "manifestly excessive" for such a minor offence.
Muslim groups had called for countrywide demonstrations to protest the conviction and 18-month jail term handed down on July 31 to Khamis Rajab Dibagula for allegedly disturbing the peace by uttering remarks alleged to be insulting to Christianity.
Dibagula was accused in a magistrate's court in the central region of Morogoro of making public remarks, in March last year, deemed to be "provocative and blasphemous to Christians."
Muslims said the conviction was unfair and infringed on freedom of worship and the right to profess one's religious faith in public.
"Who said it is illegal to profess your religious conviction in public?" asked Maryam Jibril, secretary general of Al-Muballighat, one of the Islamic groups protesting.
"Where is the law saying it is crime for me to say that Jesus Christ is not God?" she added in a statement.
Muslims reject the divinity of Jesus, known in the Qur'an (the Muslim holy book) as 'Isa (PBUH), but believe that he was a prophet who received revelation from God and preached monotheism, and they afford him great respect.
Tanzania has been spared the internal strife that has blighted many African states over ethnic and religious grounds. However, it remains one of the poorest countries in the world, heavily reliant on foreign aid, with many of its people living below the World Bank poverty line.
Islam and Christianity are the two main religions in this African country of 32 million people.
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