Tanzania - Free Tundu Lissu

Tanzania - Update on the Tundu Lissu affair

July 30, 2025:

We have received an update on the Tundu Lissu affair. As is well known, HoC has been closely following the vicissitudes of the Tanzanian lawyer and parliamentarian who has been arrested for “treason” without any evidence of any kind being made public. Lissu has now been on death row for four months, but nothing is yet known regarding the specific facts that may be charged against him, and a possible trial continues to be postponed. Tanzania has been ruled by a single party since its independence in 1961. The ruling party, now known as Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, the Revolutionary Party) dominates all aspects of Tanzanian life and rarely tolerates dissent. The Revolutionary Party originally had a strong “socialist” imprint (when even the Soviet Union of itself claimed to be socialist), but today, after more than 60 years of unchallenged power, the ideological aspects have been greatly attenuated, except perhaps for the good relations with Russia and China, whose influence is very strong in the region.

Lissu, on the other hand, is the leader of Chadema (“Party of Democracy and Development,” which has a liberal-democratic orientation), which in the last election (2020) garnered 13 percent of the vote, making it practically the only opposition party to exceed 0.5 percent. In October this year Tanzania will vote again, and 4 months ago Lissu was arrested, claiming that the anti-corruption measures he had included in his party's election platform would play into the hands of unspecified “foreign powers.” Lissu, however, admitted no guilt, and as a result of this behavior the incumbent president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, issued an executive order banning his entire party from running in the elections. Now, many observers believe that the charges against Lissu are completely fictitious, serving only to keep him away from electoral contention. An official who spoke requesting anonymity hinted that Lissu, once the elections pass, will be released in some way. The fact remains that as of today he is still in solitary confinement on death row, and at least formally that is the sentence hanging over his head. As HoC noted in June, the Italian government has put Tanzania on the list of nations involved in the so-called “Mattei Plan,” but it does not appear to be lobbying in any way on Lissu's behalf.

This is the text of the update sent to us on July 30 by DUA (Democracy Union of Africa) and the editors of the #FreeTunduLissu campaign! after another preliminary hearing of the treason trial against Lissu

"Another preliminary hearing of the treason trial against Tundu Lissu was held today in Dar es Salaam. As usual, prosecutors requested a postponement to August 14, 2025.
The request for postponement was made on the grounds that it was appropriate to await a High Court decision (expected on August 4) on certain procedural issues.
Prosecutors have asked for the identity of witnesses to be concealed when the case reaches the hearing stage in the Tanzanian High Court.
This postponement is yet more evidence of the incompetence of the Tanzanian judiciary, to the point of being guided by state prosecutors as they see fit.
Tundu Lissu has so far spent 112 days on death row in Ukonga Maximum Security Prison while the remand phase has not been completed to pave the way for a hearing in the High Court, which is the jurisdiction in Tanzania for such serious cases.
This cruel tactical game playing by prosecutors, who appear to be in collusion with the judiciary, is a clear demonstration that in Tanzania one is guilty until proven innocent and not vice versa.
As noted earlier, the prosecutors, in collaboration with the judiciary, are deploying baseless legal tactics to keep Tundu Lissu in jail and help President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her party get to the October elections unopposed. This bogus politically-motivated high treason case, punishable by capital punishment, is just a cover, as there is no evidence to support it; which is why prosecutors are seeking to be allowed to present “anonymous” testimony, that is, from alleged witnesses whose identities are being sought to be withheld."

Hands off Cain will continue to follow the case and has invited the curators of the #FreeTunduLissu campaign to be present in Venice in September, where HoC, together with All in Venice, will bring the theme of Human Rights in the context of the Venice Film Festival.

On the Lissu case see also HoC 19/06/2025, 28/06/2025 and 15/07/2025.