Tanzania releases Zanzibar treason suspects

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuters) -- Tanzanian authorities on Thursday unconditionally released 18 opposition activists on the islands of Zanzibar who had been jailed for over three years on treason charges, their lawyer said.

"They were released at about 9:30 a.m.," the activists' lawyer Nassor Mohammed told Reuters by telephone. "The state said it had no more interest in the case."

The freeing of the 18 members of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) followed controversial elections on the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar, which CUF said were rigged in favor of the ruling party.

Mohammed, also a prominent CUF leader, said the ruling party was trying to "clean its plate" after the poll, but said the opposition would continue to demand fresh elections on Zanzibar.

Human rights groups had long dismissed the treason charges as politically motivated and aimed at silencing peaceful opposition on the islands, which joined with Tanganyika in 1964 to form Tanzania.

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