Tanzania opposition leader sentenced to 4 years in treason trial

DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for inciting unrest, potentially barring him from the next election, in a case that has drawn international condemnation.
Tanzania was considered one of the more stable democracies in Africa but has seen its reputation plummet as the long-ruling government has cracked down brutally on the opposition and protests.
Lissu, head of the main opposition party, Chadema, was arrested ahead of last year's presidential election on treason charges and has spent 19 months in jail.
The court said he was not guilty of treason, but instead convicted him of incitement — even though it was not among the charges in the case — and sentenced him to four years in prison.
That could mean he remains in prison until just after the next scheduled election in October 2030.
'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 the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan's orders.
'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', he said.
Hassan's government carried out a wave of arrests and abductions targeting opponents and critics ahead of the October 2025 ballot, sparking huge protests during the election, which she ultimately won with 98 per cent of the vote.
The authorities' response resulted in security forces killing thousands, according to the opposition and rights groups. The government puts the death toll at 518.
Security was heightened across the commercial capital, 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 in the east African nation.
'It's a travesty of justice', John Kitoka, Chadema's head of foreign affairs, said.
'The main purpose of the judgement was to keep him in prison during the next election', Kitoka said, though he added that Chadema would not take part in polls until they were 'fair, independent or credible'.