Opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been granted the right to represent himself in a high-profile treason trial after Tanzanian prison authorities repeatedly blocked private meetings with his legal team.
Lissu, who heads the main opposition party Chadema, has been in custody since April 9 after delivering a public address that criticized Tanzania’s electoral framework and called for reforms ahead of the October general elections. He now faces treason charges for that speech.
On Monday, Lissu told the Kisutu magistrate court in Dar es Salaam that he had been systematically denied confidential access to his legal team of over 30 lawyers. Instead, he was forced to communicate through a monitored phone in a small room within the prison, raising serious concerns about attorney-client privilege.
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“I have more than 30 lawyers who I trust very much. Today is the 68th day since I was arraigned and charged with treason, but my lawyers have been repeatedly denied the right to see me in private,” Lissu said in an AP report.
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The court’s chief magistrate, Franco Kiswaga, responded by approving Lissu’s request to act as his own counsel for now, allowing him to directly engage the prosecution unless he chooses to reinstate his legal team. Kiswaga also directed state prosecutors to expedite their investigation and confirmed July 1 as the trial’s hearing date.
Lissu further decried the conditions of his imprisonment, alleging that he had been stripped of basic rights, including access to worship. He noted that he was being held in a section of the prison meant for death row inmates, despite not being convicted of any crime.
He emphasized, “I am being held in a section of the prison designated for inmates sentenced to death.”
The Chadema party has long accused the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), which has held power since independence in 1961, of exploiting electoral laws and resisting independent oversight.
Tundu Lissu, who survived an assassination attempt in 2017 after being shot 16 times, has become a symbol of resistance within the opposition.
READ ALSO: Tundu Lissu appears in court as treason case sparks outcry in Tanzania
While the Tanzanian government under President Samia Suluhu Hassan denies allegations of repression, human rights groups continue to criticize what they see as a pattern of political intimidation and suppression.
