Tanzania's opposition leader Tundu Lissu has escaped a possible death sentence after the High Court acquitted him of treason but convicted him of incitement, sentencing him to four years in prison.

The three-judge bench at the High Court's Dar es Salaam Sub-Registry delivered the split verdict on Friday, November 6, bringing to an end a high-profile trial that has kept the Chadema national chairman behind bars since April 2025.

The court found that prosecutors had failed to prove that Lissu intended to intimidate or threaten the government through his statements, a key element required to establish the treason charge.
However, the judges found him guilty of the lesser offence of incitement under Section 390 of the Penal Code 

 They ruled that his remarks, urging Tanzanians to prevent and disrupt the October 2025 General Election, amounted to incitement.

Presiding judge Dunstan Ndunguru said the court had relied on Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows a court to convict an accused person of a lesser offence where the evidence establishes that offence, even if it was not separately included in the original charge.

The court said some prosecution witnesses had testified that Lissu's remarks influenced them to participate in activities intended to disrupt the election.

The conviction followed a trial in which the opposition leader had consistently denied wrongdoing, maintaining his prosecution was politically motivated. He further held  that his statements were part of a legitimate campaign for electoral and constitutional reforms.

Lissu's campaign slogan, "No Reforms, No Election", became a central feature of the prosecution's case, with the State arguing that his calls for electoral changes were intended to mobilise the public against the conduct of the 2025 polls.

The opposition leader, however, maintained that demanding reforms was a legitimate political right and did not amount to treason.

The treason charge was serious because it carried the possibility of the death penalty under Tanzanian law. While acquittal of the treason count removes the threat of capital punishment, the four-year sentence means he will remain in prison.

During mitigation, Lissu appealed to the judges to consider his health and personal circumstances, telling the court that he had undergone 25 surgical operations and still had bullets lodged in his body following the 2017 assassination attempt.

He also disclosed that he had been living with diabetes for six years and warned that imprisonment could worsen his medical condition.

The prosecution had urged the court to impose a severe sentence, arguing that the offence had implications for national peace, security and economic activity.

Lissu also challenged the court's decision to convict him of an offence he said had not formed part of the original treason charge, describing the incitement conviction as an offence manufactured on political directives.

The opposition leader intends to challenge the decision, with the court granting him leave to appeal to Tanzania's Court of Appeal.

His detention and prosecution have drawn considerable international attention, amid concerns about the political environment surrounding the October 2025 General Election.

The election was held amid tensions between the government and opposition parties, with Chadema's participation severely curtailed after the party refused to sign an electoral code of conduct.

Chadema said the code of conduct did not address its demands for reforms.
Lissu's arrest in April 2025 came after he addressed a political gathering in Mbinga, where he called for changes to the electoral system ahead of the polls.