Tanzania court orders an opposition leader, who is on a hunger strike, to appear in person
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/05/2025 (325 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) — A magistrate court in Tanzania on Tuesday ordered that an opposition leader who was charged with treason last month be brought to court in person next month after he went on hunger strike to protest against virtual hearings.
Opposition leader Tundu Lissu was arrested on April 9 after calling for electoral reforms before a general election in October and was charged with treason, a charge for which bail isn’t available.
Lissu’s party, Chadema, has been outspoken about electoral reforms, arrests and detentions of opposition politicians before the vote in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan is seeking election after serving out her predecessor’s term in office.
Chadema officials were arrested last month as they drove to court for a scheduled hearing of Lissu’s treason case. They were later released without being charged.
The magistrate’s court on Tuesday ordered prison authorities to present Lissu for a hearing of his case on May 19.
The magistrate said that members of the public will be allowed to attend the hearing, unlike last month’s session which the public was barred from by the police.
This will be the first time that Lissu will appear in court in person since his arrest. The last hearing was canceled after he protested against a virtual hearing.
Over the weekend, Lissu’s lawyers had said that he would embark on a hunger strike to demand that his case is heard in court and not virtually.
Senior lawyer Peter Kibatala, who is one of 31 lawyers on the case, said that they weren’t allowed to speak freely with their client in prison.
“The last time we were forced to conduct our conversation in English,” Kibatala said.
Human rights activists have accused the government of Hassan of heavy-handed tactics against the opposition. The government denies the claims.
In 2017, three years before the last election, Lissu survived an assassination attempt after being shot 16 times. His party has been critical of laws that favor the ruling CCM party, which has been in power since Tanzania’s independence in 1961.