Why #Justice4Azory !
The #Justice4Azory campaign is by Tanzanians demanding justice for Azory Gwanda, the Tanzanian journalist who has been missing since November 2017. I mean there’s even a Wikipedia entry on his disappearance! And we have seen Committee to Protect Journalists together with Human Rights Watch making an appeal and hashtag #WhereIsAzory ? The One Free Press Coalition put Azory on the top of the list of the 10 Most Urgent Cases of Journalists under attack, side by side with Jamal Kashoggi and others. So #Tanzania made the top of the list — of course for all the wrong reasons!!
To be clear, Azory spoke up for us! Tanzanians!
He informed us on unexplained killings happening in his home town of Kibiti and surrounding areas of Mkuranga and Rufiji. If we delve into his articles we can trace the magnitude of the problem and how Azory faithfully chronicled deaths of citizens, police and government officials. He asked the hard questions and narrated to us testimonies. Azory was relentless in seeking out the truth.
For almost two years now, Azory has been silent. Recently our Foreign Minister, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi in an interview with BBC Focus on Africa, said thrice in various ways that Azory has “disappeared and died” “killed” and “passed on” — something that he later refuted but anyone who speaks English can listen to this interview and confidently construe that Prof Kabudi not merely misspoke but more likely blurted out something that is well known in certain circles.
So we need to stop the speculation, we need to stand up, we need to speak up for Azory who is now silent.
In very simple terms, open up the case file and get answers that appear to be available — what happened to Azory? If he has really “passed on” as the minister sadly said in his interview then his family needs to know and get closure. And all of us need to know why and who is responsible. If he is alive and “went to seek a better life” like the Minister for Interior Affairs alluded, then find him!
Whatever the case, we want #Justice4Azory .
Join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to add to the many voices demanding Justice for this brave Tanzanian journalist
