Tundu Lissu, the leader of Tanzania’s biggest opposition party, the Party for Democracy and Progress (known by its Swahili acronym – Chadema), has been charged with treason.
Charges were laid a day after his arrest at an opposition rally.
Lissu’s arrest comes ahead of elections due in October, amid a crackdown on the opposition in Tanzania.
After former President John Magufuli died in 2021, there was hope that his successor, Samia Suluhu Hassan, would govern in a less authoritarian way. While this initially appeared to be the case, more recently there have been arrests and abductions of people belonging to the political opposition.
Lissu appeared in court this week on the treason charge, but was not allowed to make a plea and was remanded in custody. His next court hearing will be on 24 April.
[Photo: Screenshot/The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs]