Church stampede cleric gets bail

Tanzanian cleric Boniface Mwamposa has been released on bail after he was arrested over a stampede that left 20 worshippers dead during an outdoor religious service he was leading in the northern town of Moshi. BBC News reports that police commissioner Anna Mghwira said Mwamposa was arrested on Tuesday along with seven other suspects. The tragedy occurred when Mwamposa poured what he said was holy oil on the ground and the crowd surged forward to touch it. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Interior Minister George Simbachawene accused the church of not taking sufficient precautions and of violating the terms of its permit for the meeting, which ran two hours later than planned. He also said the government would strengthen the requirements needed to register as a church.