Tanzania's High Court on Friday acquitted opposition leader Tundu Lissu of treason but sentenced him to four years in prison for incitement, closing a 19-month trial that became the defining test of the country's politics after the bloodiest election in its history. The three-judge panel in Dar es Salaam ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove the treason charge — which carried a possible death sentence — but found that Lissu's campaign speeches amounted to incitement to disrupt the 2025 general election.

Lissu, 58, the chairman of the main opposition party CHADEMA, has been in custody since his arrest in April 2025. He plans to appeal, his party said, and will remain in prison while the appeal is heard. The verdict was delivered under heavy security, with police surrounding the courtroom in Tanzania's commercial capital as crowds of supporters gathered nearby and Lissu was brought to the hearing in a heavily guarded convoy.

The verdict

The panel, led by High Court Judge Dunstan Ndunguru, acquitted Lissu of treason after finding that prosecutors had failed to prove a key element of the offence: that he intended to intimidate the government through his statements. But the judges convicted him of incitement, a lesser offence included as an alternative to the treason charge under Section 390 of the Penal Code.

"We are satisfied that through his statements, the accused intended to disrupt elections and instigate violence," one judge told a courtroom packed with Lissu's supporters, according to Al Jazeera. "We sentence you to four years in prison, but the doors are open for appeal," the judge added.

The ruling ends the treason proceedings against Lissu, but the four-year sentence means the CHADEMA chairman stays behind bars as he pursues an appeal to the Court of Appeal, Tanzania's highest court. His party's spokesperson, Brenda Rupia, told Reuters that Lissu planned to appeal.

Lissu told the court the trial was "political persecution", accusing the judges of following orders from the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan. "Excuses were created to imprison me," he said.

The speech at the centre of the case

The charges arose from remarks Lissu made on 3 April 2025, when he addressed party members and journalists at CHADEMA's headquarters in Dar es Salaam. Prosecutors said he told supporters that the opposition would "block the election" and "mobilise rebellion" unless electoral reforms were introduced — a demand captured in his campaign slogan, "No Reforms, No Election".

Lissu pleaded not guilty throughout, arguing that his speech broke no law and that the charges were politically motivated. In court on Friday, he protested the way the conviction was reached. "I was not charged with incitement but you judges are convicting me with it just to impress the person who gives you the titles," he told the bench. "I believe these were directives."

The court found that his words were enough to support the incitement conviction even though the treason case failed. The distinction matters: treason required proof that Lissu intended to intimidate the government, and the judges ruled that element had not been established.

Why the treason charge mattered: Treason carries the death penalty under Tanzanian law. By dismissing it, the court removed the threat of execution that had hung over the trial — and over Tanzania's most prominent opposition figure — for 19 months. The four-year incitement sentence is severe, but it is a fundamentally different outcome from the one prosecutors originally sought.

The election and the unrest

The trial cannot be understood apart from the October 2025 general election. Lissu's arrest, CHADEMA's disqualification from the vote, and allegations by rights groups that government critics were abducted helped fuel the worst political unrest in Tanzania's history, according to Reuters.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner of the election with nearly 98 percent of the vote. Protests broke out during the vote, and security forces responded with lethal force. A commission appointed by Hassan said in April that at least 518 people were killed in the violence, which it blamed on protesters. The opposition and rights groups put the death toll in the thousands.

Disputed figures: The death toll from the 2025 election violence is contested. The government-appointed commission reported at least 518 deaths; the opposition and human rights groups say thousands were killed. The government has denied allegations that security forces used excessive force and says protesters started the violence. Neither figure has been independently verified.

The government has dismissed accusations of a crackdown on dissent. But the trial drew sustained international attention: British and European Union lawmakers described it as politically motivated and called for Lissu's immediate release, and the US ambassador to Tanzania, William Trachman, said he was closely following the trial and its "broader implications for the rule of law". The US government said last December that it was reviewing its relationship with Tanzania over violence against civilians.

Who is Tundu Lissu

Lissu is no stranger to danger. In 2017 he survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot 16 times, an attack he believes was politically motivated and which required nearly 20 surgeries. No one has ever been charged in the case.

He went into exile after the shooting and returned briefly in 2020 to stand in the presidential election against the incumbent John Magufuli, finishing as runner-up. He returned permanently in 2023, after President Hassan eased the political repression that had intensified under Magufuli, who died in office in 2021 — but Hassan soon faced growing criticism from human rights activists for cracking down on opponents, accusations she denied. Lissu's arrest in April 2025, just as he was leading CHADEMA's demand for electoral reform, became the focal point of that criticism.

The case was the third high-profile treason trial in mainland Tanzania's history, according to Al Jazeera. The first two, in the 1970s and 1980s, involved defendants accused of plotting to overthrow and assassinate the country's founding president, Julius Nyerere.

What happens next

Lissu's lawyers are expected to file an appeal with the Court of Appeal, Tanzania's highest court, challenging both the conviction and the sentence. The appeal process could take months, during which Lissu remains in prison — leaving CHADEMA without its leader and Tanzania's opposition weakened.

For now, the immediate test is on the streets. Police in Dar es Salaam warned earlier this week that legal action would be taken against anyone planning to break the law when the verdict was issued, and security was visibly tightened across the city before Friday's hearing. As Lissu was escorted to court, footage posted by CHADEMA showed him waving his fist and shouting "Do not fear!" in Swahili — a message, his supporters say, that the fight is not over. The wider question is whether the government treats the treason acquittal as a signal to ease pressure on the opposition, or uses the incitement conviction to keep its most prominent critic behind bars.

Frequently asked questions

What was Tundu Lissu charged with?

Treason, which carries the death penalty in Tanzania, over a speech in April 2025 in which prosecutors said he urged supporters to "block the election" and "mobilise rebellion". The court acquitted him of treason but convicted him of incitement.

Why was he acquitted of treason but convicted of incitement?

The judges ruled that prosecutors failed to prove that Lissu intended to intimidate the government, a key element of treason. But they found that his statements were intended to disrupt the elections and instigate violence, which was enough for incitement under Section 390 of the Penal Code.

How long will he be in prison?

He was sentenced to four years. He has already spent 19 months in custody since his arrest in April 2025, and he plans to appeal the conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal.

What did the 2025 election have to do with the trial?

Lissu's arrest and CHADEMA's disqualification from the vote helped trigger the worst political unrest in Tanzania's history during the October 2025 elections. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner with nearly 98 percent of the vote, and at least 518 people were killed in the violence, according to the government's own commission.

What has the international reaction been?

British and EU lawmakers called the trial politically motivated and demanded Lissu's release. The US ambassador to Tanzania said he was closely following the trial and its implications for the rule of law, and the US said last December it was reviewing its relationship with Tanzania over violence against civilians.

Key takeaways

  • Tanzania's High Court acquitted opposition leader Tundu Lissu of treason on 6 November 2026 but sentenced him to four years in prison for incitement.
  • The treason charge, which carried a possible death sentence, failed because prosecutors could not prove Lissu intended to intimidate the government.
  • The case stemmed from an April 2025 speech and the "No Reforms, No Election" campaign ahead of elections that ended in the worst unrest in Tanzania's history.
  • Lissu, who survived being shot 16 times in 2017, plans to appeal to the Court of Appeal and remains in prison in the meantime.
  • The verdict was closely watched internationally, with British and EU lawmakers and the US ambassador raising concerns about the rule of law.

The appeal will be the next chapter — and the next test of whether Tanzania's courts, and its politics, can move past a trial that has defined the country for 19 months. What to watch: the timing of the appeal filing, CHADEMA's response without its leader, and whether the government uses the months ahead to open space for the opposition or to close it further.