Tanzania Court Clears Tundu Lissu of Treason but Jails Him Four Years for Incitement

Tanzania's High Court in Dar es Salaam on Friday cleared opposition leader Tundu Lissu of treason but found him guilty of incitement and sentenced him to four years in prison. Treason can carry the death penalty, so the acquittal spared him the most severe punishment available.

The ruling

A three-judge panel led by Justice Dunstan Ndunguru, sitting with Justices James Karayemaha and Ferdinand Kiwonde, ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove a key element of the treason offence, the intention to threaten or intimidate the government. The treason charge had been brought under Section 39(2)(d) of the Penal Code.

The judges then convicted Lissu of the lesser offence of incitement under Section 390 of the Penal Code, using Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows a court to convict of a lesser offence even where it was not separately included in the charge sheet.

The court ruled that Lissu's campaign slogan, No Reforms, No Election, was sufficient to support the incitement conviction, finding that his remarks incited the public to disrupt the 2025 general election. In its ruling the court said: "By uttering those words with the intention of disseminating them to the public, the accused incited the public to disrupt the 2025 elections."

The case

Lissu, 58, chairs CHADEMA, Tanzania's main opposition party. He has been in detention since his arrest on April 9, 2025 in Mbinga, Ruvuma Region, shortly after a rally under the party's No Reforms, No Election campaign.

Prosecutors said Lissu told supporters that the opposition would block the election and mobilise rebellion. He pleaded not guilty, argued that his speech broke no law, that he was calling for reforms and peaceful action, and that the charges were politically motivated. He represented himself during parts of the trial. Prosecutors presented 17 witnesses; Lissu called five. His reform demands included independently appointed electoral commissioners, an end to alleged police intimidation of opposition parties, party agents observing vote counting without harassment, and presidential results open to legal challenges.

After the ruling, Lissu told the court: "The offence of incitement is one that you, honourable judges, have manufactured. You have created an offence that did not exist, and you have done so on political directives." CHADEMA announced the outcome on its X account.

What happens next

The court granted Lissu leave to appeal at Tanzania's Court of Appeal, the country's highest court. He also said he intended to seek bail, arguing that the incitement conviction made release possible to apply for, unlike the treason charge.

The wider context

Reuters reported that Lissu's arrest, alleged abductions of government critics and CHADEMA's disqualification from the vote were key drivers of protests during the October 2025 elections. A commission appointed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan said in April that at least 518 people were killed in the violence, which it blamed on the protesters. Her government denied allegations by human rights groups that the security services used excessive force. BBC News reported the official inquiry toll as at least 500 dead, with the opposition saying the toll was much higher. Hassan won that election with 98 percent of the vote, a result opposition groups dismissed as a mockery of democracy after key challengers, including Lissu, were excluded.

British and European Union legislators labelled the proceedings politically driven and demanded Lissu's release, DW reported. Amnesty International last week accused the government of continuing its crackdown on the opposition, a claim the authorities did not respond to.