Tanzania Opposition Leader Jailed Four Years After Treason Acquittal

Tanzania's main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for inciting unrest, avoiding the heavier charge of treason that carries the death penalty.

Lissu, head of the main opposition party Chadema, was arrested ahead of last year's presidential election on treason charges and had spent 19 months in jail. The court said he was not guilty of treason, but instead convicted him of incitement even though, as Lissu himself pointed out, it was not among the charges in the case and sentenced him to four years.

"We are satisfied that through his statements, the accused intended to disrupt elections and instigate violence," the judge told a courtroom packed with his supporters.

Lissu responded that the trial was "political persecution," accusing the judges of following orders from the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan. "Excuses were created to imprison me," he told the court. “I was not charged with incitement but you judges are convicting me with it just to impress the person who gives you the titles. I believe these were directives.”

Hassan's government carried out a wave of arrests and abductions targeting opponents and critics ahead of the October 2025 vote, sparking huge protests during the election, which she ultimately won with 98 percent of the vote. Authorities responded with security forces killing thousands, according to the opposition and rights groups. The government puts the death toll at 518 .

Security was heightened across Dar es Salaam and around the courthouse ahead of the verdict, with police warning against "those who want to stage a coup." Analysts had warned that a treason conviction could trigger further unrest.

The case drew criticism from British and EU lawmakers, who described it as politically motivated and called for Lissu's immediate release. "The use of capital punishment against a political opponent risks turning the justice system into an instrument of political repression," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Tanzania's president. US ambassador to Tanzania William Trachman posted on X that he was “closely following the outcome of Tundu Lissu's trial proceedings, and the broader implications for the rule of law.”

It marked the third high-profile treason trial in mainland Tanzania's history. This was the first time Lissu, 58, faced such serious charges, despite repeated arrests. In 2017, he survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot 16 times an attack he believes was politically motivated and which required nearly 20 surgeries.