An Opposition Politician from Tanzania will Represent Himself in a Treason Trial

After being refused the opportunity to confer privately with his attorneys, Tanzania’s top opposition leader was allowed to defend himself in his treason trial on Monday. Ahead of the October general elections, Tundu Lissu spoke at a public protest advocating for electoral changes before being detained on April 9 and charged with treason.

The lack of an impartial election commission and legislation that benefits the ruling CCM party, which has controlled Tanzania since its independence in 1961, have been criticised by Lissu’s Chadema party. Three years before to the most recent election, in 2017, Lissu was shot sixteen times and survived an assassination attempt.

I have a great deal of faith in over thirty of my solicitors. I was arraigned and charged with treason 68 days ago today, but my attorneys have been refused the opportunity to meet me in private on several occasions,” Lissu stated.

According to Franco Kiswaga, the head magistrate at the Kisutu court in Dar es Salaam, Lissu will be permitted to speak with the prosecution directly unless he changes his mind later. He scheduled a hearing on July 1 and encouraged the prosecution to expedite their investigations.

Lissu also objected to what he described as a rejection of fundamental rights, such as the freedom of religion. He said that despite not having been found guilty, he was being detained in a wing of the jail reserved for those who would get death sentences.

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