Tanzania opposition leader returns to court for treason trial after monthslong delay

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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania’s opposition leader charged with treason appeared in court for the first time in months on Monday, but the hearing was adjourned yet again after he opposed the prosecution's plan to have secret witnesses appear in a special enclosed cell.

Opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been in prison for 10 months after he was arrested following an opposition rally in which he called for constitutional and electoral law reforms before last year’s disputed election.

Lissu, who is representing himself in the case, said the punishment for treason is death and that secret witnesses in enclosed cells pose a huge risk and are likely to result in an unjust outcome for the case.

Judges said a decision on the objection would be delivered to the court on Wednesday.

Tanzania’s October 2025 election led to days of protests, the internet was shut down for days, hundreds of people were killed, and thousands of protesters were arrested.

The East African country, a largely peaceful nation, saw its first major wave of violence, which was blamed on foreigners by President Samia Suluhu, who won a second term with more than 97% of the vote, with no major opposition candidate in the running.

Suluhu apologized to diplomats for the internet shutdown and said it would never happen again. She then formed a commission of inquiry, which she said would champion reconciliation, but the main opposition party, Chadema, has been calling for justice for the families whose kin died in the protests.

Chadema deputy party leader, John Heche, on Monday called for the “unconditional release” of Lissu, alleging that Tanzanian authorities had proposed releasing him from prison on condition that he leave the country.

Lissu, whose party did not participate in the October election, has been protesting the slow judicial process, with his case yet to be determined despite his arrest in April 2025.

Last year, he told the court he would represent himself because of frustration with prison authorities, who he said were not allowing him to confer with his lawyers in private.

Lissu is the most visible of Tanzania’s fierce critics of the ruling CCM Party, which has been in power since independence. He survived an assassination attempt in 2017 and was in and out of exile until last year, when he campaigned for reforms ahead of the election.