Police in Tanzania released four senior opposition leaders who were arrested for their alleged role in deadly protests against last month’s general election, their party said late on Monday.

The protests plunged Tanzania into its biggest political crisis in decades.

Opposition party Party for Democracy and Progress, commonly known as CHADEMA and some human rights activists said more than 1000 people were killed by security forces.

The government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who was declared the winner of the election with nearly 98% of the vote, said those numbers were exaggerated but did not offer its own death toll.

–Reuters–