2020 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2(1) travel document in court) and issued an order for his expulsion from the territory after serving the prison sentence. 15 On 4 June 2012 the applicant further appealed to the Tanzania Court of Appeal. 16 The Court of Appeal upheld the two years’ prison sentence but set aside the six months’ sentence for contempt of court, as well as the expulsion order, on the grounds that this fell under the authority of the Minister of Home Affairs. 17 On 4 December 2012, the Minister of Home Affairs issued orders for his detention and deportation. 18 These orders were not fulfilled upon the completion of his two years’ prison sentence because, according to the respondent state, the applicant refused to cooperate and comply with the administrative procedures of the Tanzanian Immigration authorities and the South African embassy (which Tanzania stated was willing to recognise him as a national). 19 Between 2013 and 2014, the applicant filed three applications for habeas corpus before the High Court in Bukoba and one in Dar es Salaam: two were struck out, one dismissed, and the other withdrawn by the applicant. 20 The African Court received complaints in the case from several sources, in the form of letters from the applicant and by others on his behalf. 21 The application was registered and served on the respondent state. 22 The applicant claimed that his father and mother are Tanzanian, and that he was born in Tanzania and has lived there since his birth. 23 He produced certified copies of a Tanzanian birth certificate and a temporary travel document as evidence of his citizenship. 24 The respondent state objected that these documents were fraudulently acquired or forged, and that there was no record of his birth registration with the relevant agency — the Registration, Insolvency and Trustees Authority. 25 The respondent state also alleged that the applicant held passports from both South Africa and the United Kingdom, in the names of Robert John Maitland and Robert John Rubenstein, indicating his place of birth as Johannesburg. 26 Since dual citizenship is not permitted for adults under Tanzanian citizenship law, the possession of these other passports meant that even if he had previously held Tanzanian citizenship, he had now lost it. 27 The respondent also asserted that the decisions in the courts, at the national level, were lawful, and the procedures had respected the applicant’s rights. 28 At the time of the hearing before the African Court, the applicant remained in Bukoba prison, where he had been for eight years. 29 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ibid. ibid 3 [6]. ibid. ibid. ibid 28 [106]. ibid 14–15 [53]. The initial letter was from Mrs George Penessis, claiming to be the applicant’s grandmother, and the name of the case was adjusted during the proceedings: ibid 4 [12], 12 [41]. ibid 5 [15]–[17]. ibid 3 [7]. ibid 20 [75]–[78]. ibid 26 [97]. ibid 21 [79]. ibid 22 [83]. ibid 6–7 [23]. ibid 18 [66]. 174