Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for inciting unrest, potentially barring him from the next election, in a case that has drawn international condemnation.

The court said he was not guilty of treason, but instead convicted him of incitement - even though it was not among the charges in the case - and sentenced him to four years in prison.

Lissu, head of the main opposition party, Chadema, was arrested ahead of last year's presidential election on treason charges and has spent 19 months in jail.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the October 2025 election with 98 percent of the vote.

The sentence could mean he remains in prison until just after the next scheduled election in October 2030.

‘Political persecution’

"We are satisfied that through his statements, the accused intended to disrupt elections and instigate violence," the judge told a courtroom packed with his supporters.

Lissu responded that the trial was "political persecution".

"I was not charged with incitement but you judges are convicting me with it just to impress the person who gives you the titles. I believe these were directives," he said.

It marked the third high-profile treason trial in mainland Tanzania's history.

The first two, in the 1970s and 1980s, involved defendants accused of plotting to overthrow and assassinate the country's founding president, Julius Nyerere.

This was the first time that Lissu, 58, faced such serious charges, despite repeated arrests.

In 2017, he survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot 16 times, an attack he believes was politically motivated and which required him to undergo nearly 20 surgeries.