Tanzanian opposition leader Lissu sentenced to four years in prison after acquittal on treason charge

A sentence under a charge that was never in the indictment

Tundu Lissu, leader of Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema, was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison for incitement to unrest — after the court acquitted him of the main charge of treason, which carried the death penalty. This was reported by Deutsche Welle. The judges ruled that Lissu's statements about disrupting the election were aimed at obstructing the vote and inciting violence: 'We are satisfied that through his statements the accused intended to derail the election and provoke violence,' the judge said.

The defendant's objections

Lissu challenged the very logic of the verdict: in his words, incitement was not among the charges brought against him. 'I was not charged with incitement, but you, judges, are convicting me of it just to impress the one who gives you your titles,' he said, according to DW, referring to Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan. After the verdict was read out, he added: 'All of this was political persecution. The pretexts were invented to put me in jail.' Lissu was arrested in April 2025 over a speech in which, according to the prosecution, he urged supporters to 'derail the election' and 'mobilize an uprising.' He denied guilt, arguing that his speech did not break the law and that the prosecution was politically motivated. By the time of the verdict, he had spent 19 months in custody.

The case against a backdrop of protests and international criticism

Lissu's arrest, reports of abductions of government critics, and Chadema's exclusion from the October 2025 election were, according to DW, among the causes of mass protests in the country. Police opened fire on demonstrators in several cities; officially, hundreds died, while opposition figures and human rights defenders speak of thousands of victims. A commission created by President Hassan reported in April at least 518 deaths and blamed the violence on the protesters; the authorities reject claims of excessive force by security services. Ahead of the verdict, security was tightened in Dar es Salaam and around the courthouse. The case drew international criticism: British and European parliamentarians called it politically motivated and demanded Lissu's immediate release, warning in a letter to Hassan that 'applying the death penalty to a political opponent risks turning the justice system into an instrument of political repression.' Lissu himself, 58, has been repeatedly arrested for his opposition activities, and in 2017 survived an assassination attempt in which he was hit by 16 bullets; he believes the attack was politically motivated.

What the verdict means

The key feature of the verdict is the discrepancy between the charge and the conviction: the court dropped the treason charge but found him guilty of incitement, a charge that was never originally brought. This means the threat of the death penalty for Lissu has been removed, but he remains in custody, and given the 19 months already served, the sentence is in effect close to time already served. The publication's materials do not indicate the practical consequences for the opposition Chadema party and its supporters; it is unknown whether the defense plans to appeal.