A Tanzanian court has barred the live broadcasting of treason proceedings involving the country’s main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from him and his party.
The ruling was delivered on Monday, August 18, 2025, by Principal Resident Magistrate Franco Kiswaga, who agreed to a request from state prosecutors arguing that concealing the identities of witnesses was necessary for their protection.
“Live streaming, live broadcast, and any other kind of live distribution of content online to the public, including on social media or video broadcast … are hereby prohibited,” Kiswaga declared during preliminary hearings at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam.
Lissu had strongly opposed the decision, warning that such restrictions would shroud the case in secrecy and block public scrutiny. His CHADEMA party officials also condemned the order. “Justice must be done and be seen to be done,” Lissu, who is representing himself after dismissing his lawyers, said last week.
The opposition leader has been in custody since early April on charges of treason and spreading false information—allegations he firmly denies. Lissu, who survived an assassination attempt in 2017 after being shot 16 times, previously contested in the 2020 presidential election, where he finished as runner-up. His party, however, has been barred from contesting in the upcoming October presidential and parliamentary polls.
His arrest, coupled with a spate of unexplained abductions of government critics, has intensified scrutiny of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s human rights record. Hassan, who became head of state in 2021 following the death of John Magufuli, is now seeking her first elected term in office.
