Leading Burundian opposition politician Alexis Sinduhije, 48, was last Wednesday arrested at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam soon after landing from Rwanda, in an apparent joint operation by Tanzanian and Burundian intelligence.

Mr Sinduhije, a former journalist, is the founder of the Mouvement pour la Solidarite et la Démocratie (Movement for Solidarity and Democracy, MSD) a political party opposed to the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Intelligence sources said the Burundian government sent security details to Tanzania with two motor vehicles to take Mr Sinduhije back to Burundi.

They said that the Tanzania security officials on advice from Interpol refused to hand him over when they learnt he was to face three murder charges.

According to a senior Tanzania police officer at the Dar es Salaam Central Police station where Mr Sinduhije is being held, the Burundian opposition leader will be brought to the Kisutu Senior Magistrate Court on three charges, including violating immigration laws.

In an exclusive interview with The EastAfrican, Mr Sinduhije said his life would be in danger if he was handed over to the Burundian government.

Mr Sinduhije said he has survived numerous assassination attempts by the current ruling party of Burundi and that a private radio station he founded in Burundi was regularly harassed by the Burundi government.

“The ruling party, the National Council for the Defence of Democracy — Forces for the Defence of Democracy, (CNDD-FDD), has recently denied opposition parties the right to peaceful assembly by preventing them from holding meetings without government authorisation. The MSD had also had problems registering as a political party,” he said.

Christopher Mtikila, chairman of the Democratic Party of Tanzania, said the arrest of Mr Sinduhije in Tanzania has raised concern among members of civil society and the international community about the protection of civil and political rights in Burundi.

Mr Mtikila said that the Burundian government has shown increasing intolerance towards political opponents, journalists and human-rights defenders.

“DP is expressing grave concern that Alexis Sinduhije has been detained on a charge of contempt for the head of state in Tanzania, simply for being critical of the president’s development policies,” he said, adding that Mr Sinduhije is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

The Tanzania Police, security details and Burundian security details brought Mr Sinduhije to Kisutu Senior Magistrate Court on Friday at 12.00 noon in a Police Land Rover Discovery to be read the charges against him, but it transpired that there were no charges yet.

The EastAfrican has learnt that the Burundian embassy in Dar es Salaam and its security details wanted the Tanzania court to declare Mr Sinduhije persona non grata and send him back to Burundi to face murder charges.

Elizabeth Kaganda, senior state attorney, said the court did not read any charges against Mr Sinduhije as there were legal formalities that had not been met and the accused will be returned to Kisutu on Monday, January 16.

After Mr Sinduhije was incarcerated in November 2008, international hip-hop fair trade label Nomadic Wax joined forces with Sinduhije’s party, MSD, to create a hip hop music compilation calling for his freedom.

Sinduhije was released from prision in March 2009.

Mr Sinduhije has in the past written opinion pieces for The EastAfrican.