Tundu Lissu, leader of Tanzania's main opposition party, was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for inciting unrest. This ruling was issued while he had been acquitted of treason charges.
Conviction and New Charges
Judges found Lissu guilty of his statements, which they claimed were made to disrupt elections and encourage violence. In this regard, the judge stated: "We are confident that through his statements, the accused intended to disrupt the elections and incite violence." Lissu protested this ruling, stating that he was not tried for inciting unrest and that this ruling was merely issued to influence the authorities.
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Political Background and Protests
Lissu was arrested in April 2025 for a speech in which he told his supporters that the opposition would "block the elections" and "follow up with a rebellion." He emphasized his innocence and stated that his speech did not violate any laws. Lissu had previously spent 19 months in prison.
In court after the ruling, he said: "This is all political harassment. Excuses were created to imprison me." Lissu's arrest and allegations of abductions of government critics, along with the removal of the Chadema party from the October 2025 elections, sparked widespread protests across the country.
In these protests, hundreds lost their lives, and reports indicate that police fired on protesters in several cities. Opposition figures and human rights groups estimate the death toll to be in the thousands. A commission appointed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan reported in April that at least 518 people were killed and blamed the protesters for the violence. The government has denied allegations of excessive use of force by security forces.
As the ruling approached on Friday, security was heightened in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and around the courthouse. British lawmakers and the European Union called the case political and demanded Lissu's immediate release. They wrote in a letter to Hassan: "The use of the death penalty against a political rival poses the risk of turning the judicial system into a tool for political repression." Lissu, 58, has been repeatedly arrested for opposing the government. In 2017, he survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot 16 times. He believes this attack was political.
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