Martha Karua, a lawyer and presidential candidate in Kenya, said Sunday she had been expelled from Tanzania, where she had been due to attend the trial of a prominent opposition figure facing treason charges.
Karua, a former justice minister who has been vocal about "democratic backsliding" in East Africa, said her deportation was a sign that the Tanzanian authorities would not give a fair trial to Chadema party leader Tindu Lissu.
Karua went to Dar es Salaam to observe the trial of Lissu, who is to appear in court on Monday on treason charges that carry a possible death penalty.
Lissu's Chadema party has been disqualified from presidential and legislative elections to due in October.
Karua said she and her group were stopped on arrival at Dar es Salaam airport and put on a flight out the same day.
The group were detained "for no offence, for merely seeking to go and stand for solidarity and to observe the trial of Tundu Lissu", she said on her return to Nairobi airport.
Threat to trial
Karua, a potential candidate for Kenya's 2027 presidential election, described Lissu as the main challenger to Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Hassan's party was "subverting the law to lock up the main contenders so that they can sail through unopposed" in the October elections, she said.
Her deportation showed Tanzania's ruling party was "determined to violate the law and are not keen on according Tundu Lissu a fair trial", Karua added.
Lissu's party was disqualified from the elections after it refused to sign an electoral code of conduct. It had demanded electoral reforms, accusing Hassan of returning to the repressive tactics of past rulers.
Karua's People's Liberation Party, denounced her treatment.
"This disgraceful act is not only an affront to their personal dignity and fundamental freedoms but also a blatant violation of the principles of the East African Community (EAC), of which both Kenya and Tanzania are founding members," the party said in a statement on X.
East Africa 'disarray
Karua told AFP in an interview this month that Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were seeing a "total erosion of democratic principles.
"All these countries now have become dangerous, not just to others but to their own nationals. I tie this to the forthcoming elections," she said.
"It's a pattern," she argued. "They are neutering the opposition ahead of elections."
Karua launched the People's Liberation Party in February as she prepares a run for the presidency in 2027.
She faces competition from an array of opposition leaders, all hoping to take on President William Ruto, whose popularity was undermined by mass protests last year over tax rises and corruption.
In the 2022 election, Karua was the running mate of Raila Odinga, who lost to Ruto.
Kenya is in "total disarray", she told AFP.
"It's as if our constitution has been suspended. We have abductions, arbitrary arrests... extrajudicial killings... And the police and authorities fail to take responsibility," she added.
Deadly protests
Rights groups say at least 60 Kenyans were killed during protests in June and July, and more than 80 people abducted by security forces since then, with dozens still missing.
Kenya's police deny involvement, and Ruto told reporters last week that all those abducted after the anti-government protests were back with their families.
Karua has been representing Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who was kidnapped in Kenya last year and taken back to his home country for trial. He too face treason charges.
Uganda holds elections in January.
Last week, Ugandan army chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son and heir-apparent of long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni, threatened voters who did not back their party.
People "who do not support Mzee wholeheartedly better be very careful!" Kainerugaba wrote on X, using an honorific for his father.
"We will deport all the traitors in public view!".
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