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Tanzania’s High Court has reportedly acquitted opposition leader Tundu Lissu of treason charges but found him guilty of incitement, in a major development in a trial that has attracted national and international attention, BBC Africa reports.
A three-judge panel in Dar es Salaam reportedly ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove a key element of the treason charge against the Chadema leader.
“The judges are still delivering their ruling, with the legal reasoning and sentence for the incitement conviction yet to be announced,” BBC stated.
Lissu, who has been in detention since April 2025, had denied the allegations, arguing that his remarks were part of a legitimate campaign for electoral reforms ahead of last year’s disputed general election.
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According to Amnesty International, Lissu, 58, was arrested on April 9, 2025, following a political rally in Mbinga, where he campaigned under the slogan “No Reforms, No Election” ahead of the October 2025 general election. He has remained in detention since his arrest.
His arrest and trial followed heightened political tensions surrounding the 2025 elections, in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan won a new term.
Human rights groups and opposition leaders have criticised the case, describing it as an attempt to suppress political dissent, while the government maintains that it applies the law equally.
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