A Tanzanian court has jailed opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, for four years on a charge of incitement.
But the three-judge panel in Dar-es-Salaam dismissed a charge of treason that carried the threat of a death sentence. The ruling was handed down on Friday, in a trial closely watched internationally.
“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.
Lissu, who heads the main opposition party, Chadema, responded that the trial was “political persecution,” accusing the judges of following orders from the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Lissu was arrested before the October 2025 presidential vote, as the government carried out a wave of detentions and abductions targeting opponents and critics.
The clampdown sparked huge protests during the election, which President Hassan was declared to have won with 98 percent of the vote.
Security forces responded by killing thousands of demonstrators, according to the opposition and rights groups. The government put the death toll at 518.
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