EU Parliament demands release of Tanzania opposition leader, Tundu Lissu

STRASBOURG, France

The European Union Parliament on Thursday May 8, added its voice to growing calls for the Tanzania government under President, Samia Hassan to drop treason and other charges imposed on opposition chief, Tundu Lissu. 

The parliament also called for the East African country to allow the main opposition party (Chadema) led by Lissu to take part as a genuine participant in the forthcoming general elections later this year. 

In a unanimous vote, the EU parliament sitting in Strasbourg, France, adopted a resolution stating that the Tanzanian authorities have violated international conventions on human rights, democracy and the rule of law in their treatment of Lissu, who is currently in jail awaiting trial on the charges he faces.

Among other things, it urged the European Union and its member states to "critically engage" with Tanzania over Lissu's case, closely monitor developments and "consider appropriate measures if the human rights situation in Tanzania continues to deteriorate."

In Tanzania, treason is non-bailable offence that carries a mandatory death sentence. 

Lissu also faces another charge of publishing false information with intent to cause civil disobedience.

This follows Chadema's campaign to push through electoral system reforms for fair elections under slogan #NoReformsNoElection. 

The EU motion was tabled by legislators Catarina Vieira (Dutch), Nicolae Stefănută (Romanian), Mounir Satouri (French), Maria Ohisalo (Finnish), Melissa Camara (French)and Ville Niinistö (Finnish).

They called for a resolution on "the arrest and risk of execution" of Tundu Lissu under Rule 150 of the parliament's rules of procedure. 

By formally adopting it in full, the 98-member legislative body joined advocacy organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty  International  in calling for Lissu’s quick and unconditional release from jail and the opening up of Tanzania's political space to opposition parties to contest the elections on fair terms.

Tundu Lissu, a prominent lawyer and politician, has been a vocal critic of the Tanzania government. He survived an assassination attempt in 2017 and returned from exile in 2020 to run for president under the Chadema.

In January 2025, Lissu was elected chairman of CHADEMA, succeeding Freeman Mbowe.

However, his political activities have led to multiple arrests, the most recent being in April 2025 on charges of incitement and treason after he called for electoral reforms at a rally. Subsequently, CHADEMA was disqualified from participating in the 2025 general elections.

Human Rights Watch said last month that Lissu's arrest on April 10, "spelled trouble" for the election and described the charges as "fabricated." It added that the government had "used Chadema's calls for electoral reform to disqualify it from participating in the upcoming elections."

"Concerned governments should be pressing President Hassan to reverse these repressive actions and ensure that basic rights and freedoms are respected in Tanzania so that the population is able to have the free and fair election to which they are entitled. " HRW said.

Amnesty International said on Tuesday May 6 that "urgent action " was needed from democracy stakeholders globally to end "authoritarian practices " in Tanzania ahead of the poll.

It published a 'model' letter of appeal addressed directly to President Hassan and called on interested parties to use it as a template for their own appeals, citing English and Kiswahili as the preferred languages but also encouraging the use of native languages if that made them more comfortable.