A court in Dar es Salaam has barred all live broadcasts of the treason trial of Tanzania’s main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, in a move critics say undermines transparency. On Monday, Principal Resident Magistrate Franco Kiswaga ruled that live streaming, live television coverage, and social media distribution of the proceedings at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court were prohibited to protect the identities of civilian witnesses.
Lissu, a 57-year-old lawyer and head of the opposition party CHADEMA, was arrested in April after prosecutors accused him of urging Tanzanians to disrupt the October 2025 presidential and parliamentary elections. He faces treason charges that could carry the death penalty if convicted. Speaking after the ruling, Lissu condemned the decision to shield the trial from public view. “Justice must be done and be seen to be done,” he said, warning that the ban risked letting the court “operate in darkness.”
The trial comes at a tense moment in Tanzanian politics. CHADEMA, the country’s largest opposition party, has been banned from contesting the October elections after demanding reforms to what it calls an electoral system stacked in favor of the ruling party. Lissu himself is a prominent critic of the government, having survived an assassination attempt in 2017, when he was shot 16 times outside his home in Dodoma. He later returned to politics, finishing second in the 2020 presidential election.
The case has intensified scrutiny of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s human rights record. While she initially promised reforms after succeeding the late John Magufuli in 2021, her administration has faced growing accusations of political repression. A 2024 U.S. State Department report cited arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and severe restrictions on press freedom as part of a deteriorating rights situation in the East African nation. Rights groups say the decision to keep Lissu’s trial partially behind closed doors raises concerns about fair trial standards and the government’s commitment to democratic freedoms ahead of a high-stakes election.
