Tanzania's Tundu Lissu treason trial resumes

Tanzania's main opposition leader Tundu Lissu (C) gestures as he enters the court room at Kisutu magistrate's court in Dar es Salaam on May 19, 2025. [AFP]

Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu's treason trial resumed Monday, five months after it was paused over procedural matters, his party said.

The trial comes after Tanzania weathered international criticism over its handling of protests around national polls last year, in which thousands were killed according to the opposition and rights activists.

Lissu, whose party Chadema was disqualified from participating in last year's elections, was detained in April 2025 and charged with treason, which carries a potential death penalty.

Lissu told crowds outside the Dar es Salaam courthouse that the prosecution wanted "to waste time so that I can continue to remain in remand custody".

The case had been paused at the high court since February 24 as prosecutors challenged a decision to admit additional evidence.

The Court of Appeal struck down their appeal on July 30, paving the way for the trial to resume.

"Someone will have to pay for all of this someday," Lissu said, according to a video shared by Chadema.

Chadema party spokesperson Brenda Rupia said the trial was a "critical moment" for Lissu's freedom, as well as a reflection of the country's "commitment to democracy, the rule of law and respect for political freedoms".

The party claimed the case had been "used as a tool to suppress legitimate political opposition and weaken democratic participation".

Lissu -- a longtime campaigner, who returned to the country in 2023 after an assassination attempt -- has been arrested several times in the past, but this is the first time he has faced such a serious charge.

His party accuses President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who won the last election with 98 percent, of a return to the repressive tactics of her predecessor, John Magufuli.