Tundu Lissu Escapes the Death Penalty, Not the Cell

Tanzania's High Court acquitted Tundu Lissu of treason on November 6 but sentenced him to four years for incitement, keeping the country's best-known opposition leader in prison. ^[1][3]

The three-judge panel in Dar es Salaam found that prosecutors had failed to prove Lissu intended to intimidate the government, a key element of the treason charge. It nevertheless ruled that his calls to prevent or disrupt the 2025 general election amounted to incitement. ^[3][4]

The acquittal removes a charge that carried the death penalty, according to Human Rights Watch. But the alternative conviction leaves Lissu, chairman of Tanzania's main opposition party, CHADEMA, behind bars after more than 18 months in custody. ^[1][5]

Lissu described the conviction as political persecution and said he had been charged with treason, not incitement. CHADEMA's legal representatives said they planned to appeal and seek bail while the appeal proceeds. ^[2][3][5]

The case arose from an April 3, 2025, party event during CHADEMA's campaign under the slogan "No Reforms, No Elections." Lissu has denied wrongdoing and said his remarks were legitimate advocacy for electoral and constitutional change. The judges found that those remarks crossed into criminal incitement. ^[1][3]

A lesser charge with a heavy sentence

The court's route to the conviction is central to the next legal fight. According to The Citizen, the judges used a provision allowing conviction for an alternative, lesser offence even though incitement had not been separately included in the charge sheet. ^[4]

The court relied on Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act to take that step and convicted Lissu under Section 390 of the Penal Code, The Citizen reported. The result was an acquittal on the charge that had kept him detained without bail, alongside a conviction carrying a substantial prison term. ^[1][4]

Lissu accused the judges of acting on government directives. That is his allegation. President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government has repeatedly denied targeting its opponents, according to the BBC, which said authorities did not respond to its request for comment on the verdict. ^[2][3]

The two findings turn on different questions. Prosecutors did not establish the intention required for treason, the court said. But the judges found Lissu's statements urging the public to obstruct the election sufficient for incitement. His defence is that those statements belonged within a political campaign for reform. ^[3][4]

Police arrested Lissu in Mbinga on April 9, 2025, six days after the remarks at issue, according to The Citizen. He remained in custody throughout the proceedings. ^[5]

It is not yet clear when the appeal and bail application will be filed or decided, how the sentence will account for his pretrial detention, or whether prosecutors will challenge the treason acquittal. A full written judgment would clarify exactly which statements and evidence the judges found sufficient for incitement. ^[3][4][5]

The campaign behind the case

CHADEMA's demands went to the rules governing political competition. They included independent appointment of electoral commissioners, freedom for parties to campaign without intimidation, and the right to challenge presidential election results in court, according to the BBC. ^[3]

The appeal will test whether the incitement conviction stands. ^[3][4][5]

The election went ahead in October 2025 without Lissu or another leading opposition challenger. Hassan was declared the winner with 98 percent of the vote, according to the BBC. ^[3]

The aftermath was deadly. An official inquiry said at least 500 people died during protests and a security crackdown after the election, the BBC reported. Opposition groups put the toll higher, while the government defended its handling of the unrest. ^[3]

The prison sentence could also reach into the next election. The BBC reported that Lissu could be excluded from the 2030 contest if the four-year sentence is upheld. That makes the appeal a fight over both his liberty and his ability to return as a presidential challenger. ^[3]

A trial amid wider pressure

Human Rights Watch said Lissu's trial was repeatedly delayed and that he represented himself after saying authorities denied him private access to his lawyers. Prison authorities denied allegations about restrictions on private legal consultations, according to the BBC. ^[1][3]

The rights organisation also said Tanzanian authorities abducted, beat, tortured and deported activists from Kenya and Uganda who travelled to Dar es Salaam in May 2025 to observe the proceedings. Those are Human Rights Watch's allegations. ^[1]

Pressure extended beyond the courtroom. According to Human Rights Watch, CHADEMA said 51 party officials were arrested and charged with terrorism after the government banned political rallies ahead of youth-led protests planned for July 7, 2025. The organisation also described treason or terrorism-related charges against two other CHADEMA figures in late 2026. ^[1]

Human Rights Watch argues that Lissu's conviction continues the silencing of dissent. The government denies targeting opponents. The practical consequence of the verdict is already clear: Tanzania's main opposition leader remains imprisoned over words spoken during a campaign to change the election rules. ^[1][3]