Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday justified the killing of protesters during recent election unrest, saying it was necessary to prevent the overthrow of the government.
She retained the presidency with 98 percent of the vote, but the main opposition candidates were either jailed or disqualified.
Her government has yet to say how many were killed during the unrest amid reports that many bodies were never returned to families.
Fresh protests have been called for December 9.
Hassan criticised European Union parliamentarians after they voted last week to suspend aid to Tanzania over the violence.
“They still think they are our masters, they are our colonisers,” Hassan said.
She also claimed the opposition candidates were not barred from taking part in the election, but “refused to enter themselves because they already knew they would not succeed”.
Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, refused to sign a new “electoral code of conduct” this year, saying there must first be reforms to create a fairer playing field after years of rigged votes.
Chadema leader Tundu Lissu was then arrested and charged with treason, which carries the death penalty.
Opposition parties accuse the authorities of a campaign of abductions and murders in the run-up to recent votes, targeting even low-level online critics of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, which has never been out of power.
