Tundu Lissu jailed for four years in Tanzania trial

Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison after a court cleared him of treason but convicted him of inciting unrest.

The ruling could keep Lissu, the head of the main opposition party Chadema, in prison until just after Tanzania's next scheduled election in October 2030. He had been arrested ahead of last year's presidential election and had spent 19 months in jail.

The court said Lissu was not guilty of treason, but convicted him of incitement, which AFP reported was not among the charges in the case. The judge told the courtroom that Lissu had intended through his statements to disrupt elections and instigate violence.

Lissu called the trial “political persecution” and accused the judges of following orders from President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government.

Security was increased in Dar es Salaam and around the courthouse before the verdict. British and European Union lawmakers had criticised the case as politically motivated and called for Lissu's release. US ambassador to Tanzania William Trachman said on X that he was closely following the trial and its implications for the rule of law.

Hassan won the October 2025 election with 98 percent of the vote. The opposition and rights groups say security forces killed thousands during protests around the election; the government puts the death toll at 518.