Tanzania’s High Court has acquitted opposition leader Tundu Lissu of treason but convicted him of incitement, sentencing the CHADEMA party leader to four years in prison after more than 18 months in detention.
The three-judge bench ruled that prosecutors failed to prove Lissu intended to intimidate the government, an essential element of the treason charge, which carried a possible death sentence.
However, the court found that remarks attributed to him during CHADEMA’s “No Reforms, No Election” campaign incited disruption of the October 2025 General Election.
CHADEMA spokesperson Brenda Rupia said the party would appeal, while chief legal counsel Rugemeleza Nshala announced plans to seek Lissu’s release on bail pending determination of the appeal.
The opposition leader was arrested on 9 April 2025, after addressing a rally demanding electoral reforms. CHADEMA continues to champion its “No Reforms, No Election” campaign as part of its wider struggle for democratic and electoral change.
Protests and deadly violence
The party was barred from October 2025 presidential and parliamentary elections after declining to sign an electoral code of conduct and Lissu remained in custody during the vote, which triggered widespread protests and deadly violence.
Amnesty International has denounced the conviction as a “travesty of justice,” arguing that the proceedings were fundamentally flawed and demanding that the sentence be quashed and Lissu released unconditionally.
The judgment adds another chapter to Lissu’s long confrontation with Tanzania’s political establishment. In September 2017, unidentified gunmen shot him repeatedly in Dodoma. He received treatment in Nairobi, Kenya before being transferred to Belgium for specialized care and later returning to Tanzania.
The treason acquittal removed the threat of execution, but the incitement conviction ensures that Tanzania’s most recognizable opposition figures remains behind bars as CHADEMA prepares another legal battle for his freedom.
