HRF condemns the four-year prison sentence handed to Tanzania’s jailed main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, and the arbitrary detentions of at least 10 members of Lissu’s party in recent weeks. For over a year, Tanzanian authorities dragged Lissu through a protracted show trial on a fabricated treason case they ultimately failed to prove in court. Then, high court judges stepped in at the last minute to save the face of the regime by convicting Lissu of a brand-new charge, one he had not faced throughout his lengthy trial, and sentencing him to four years in prison. Tanzanian dictator Samia Suluhu Hassan is so afraid of her most serious political opponent that she is using the courts and the police to keep him in jail and dismantle his movement. #FreeTunduLissu
Lissu has been arbitrarily detained since April 2025 for leading the protest campaign, “No Reforms, No Election.” On Nov. 6, a panel of three judges of the High Court in Dar es Salaam acquitted Lissu of the charge of treason for lack of evidence. It then convicted him of incitement, a charge that was not part of the original indictment, over statements urging supporters to boycott and obstruct the October 2025 election. The conviction could bar him from the 2030 presidential race. Lissu calls the case political persecution and plans to appeal.
In a statement issued on Nov. 8, Lissu’s party, CHADEMA, said police had detained at least 10 of its members between Oct. 10 and Nov. 7. All of the detainees have been denied police bail, amid allegations that they have been tortured, coerced into confessions, and cut off from their lawyers and families.
These arrests follow an election marked by a crackdown in which hundreds were reportedly killed and which African Union observers found fell short of democratic standards. Tanzanian officials must quash Lissu’s conviction, release all detained CHADEMA members, and investigate the allegations of torture.
