Tanzanian opposition leader’s treason trial starts just weeks before the election

Tundu Lissu, the opposition leader in Tanzania, faced trial for treason on Monday in Dar es Salaam, just weeks ahead of an election from which his party has been excluded.

Lissu, the runner-up in the 2020 presidential election, was taken into custody in April and faces treason charges due to a speech that prosecutors claim incited the public to revolt and interfere with the upcoming elections later this month.

Lissu pledged to abstain from the vote unless substantial reforms were implemented in an electoral process that he claimed benefits the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, which has held power since independence in 1961.

Lissu, the leader of the CHADEMA opposition party, endured an assassination attempt in 2017, during which he was shot 16 times. No charges have ever been filed in the case.

He has entered a plea of not guilty in the treason case, with his lawyer asserting that the charges are driven by political motives.

According to CHADEMA, judges are set to hear testimonies from the initial state witnesses on Monday. In a statement late on Sunday, CHADEMA expressed that their leader was “firm, steadfast, and ready” for the trial, which is anticipated to last for weeks.

At the start of the trial, Lissu reported that several of his supporters had faced violence and were prevented from accessing the courtroom, according to his lawyer, Jebra Kambole, who spoke to Reuters.

The court has prohibited live coverage at the request of the state prosecutor in order to protect the identities of their witnesses.

The detention of government critics and the alleged abductions over the past year have highlighted the human rights record of Hassan, who is anticipated to secure victory in the upcoming election on October 29.

Tanzania’s electoral commission prohibited CHADEMA in April from taking part in the election due to the party’s failure to sign a code of conduct document.

The commission disqualified the leader of Tanzania’s second-largest opposition party from the presidential race, resulting in only candidates from smaller parties being left to contest against Hassan.

Hassan received acclaim after assuming power in 2021 for alleviating the repression of political opponents and the censorship of the media that had flourished under her predecessor, John Magufuli, who passed away while in office.

However, she has encountered increasing criticism from human rights activists regarding the purported abductions and arrests of other political opponents.

Hassan has said her government is committed to respecting human rights and ordered an investigation into reports of abductions last year. No official findings have been released to the public.