Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu convicted of incitement
A Tanzanian High Court has found Chadema opposition leader Tundu Lissu guilty of incitement but acquitted him of treason. Rights groups see the case as a sign of shrinking political freedoms in the country.
A three-judge panel of the High Court in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, has found Tundu Lissu, leader of the main opposition party Chadema, guilty of incitement. The East African country's court cleared the 58-year-old of the more serious charge of treason, which is among the most serious offences in Tanzania and can carry the death penalty. The verdict may deepen concerns about the state of democracy there.
Lissu has been in custody since April last year. He was convicted over remarks made while campaigning for electoral reforms ahead of the disputed 2025 general election. Prosecutors said he sought to incite the public to disrupt the vote and threaten the government. Lissu, a lawyer who represented himself at trial, denied the charges, called them politically motivated and said his words were taken out of context. He has leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal, the country's highest court.
Election background
In the October 2025 election, President Samia Suluhu Hassan won 98% of the vote. The opposition rejected the result as a mockery of democracy because her two main challengers, including Lissu, were excluded. The government denies targeting opponents. The vote was followed by widespread protests and a violent security crackdown that left at least 500 people dead, according to an official inquiry; opposition groups say the toll was far higher.
Lissu was arrested six months before the poll, shortly after launching a campaign under the slogan "No Reforms, No Election". Chadema demanded that electoral commissioners be appointed independently of the president, that police let parties campaign free of intimidation, and that presidential results be open to court challenge.
Lissu's background
Lissu first became an MP in 2010. In 2017 he survived an assassination attempt in Dodoma and spent years abroad for treatment and in exile. Last week Amnesty International accused the government of continuing its post-election crackdown. The authorities did not respond to a request for comment.
