Dar es Salaam – The treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu has taken another controversial turn after the Court of Appeal abruptly postponed a critical hearing scheduled for today, June 11, 2026, pushing it back nearly a month to July 6 without explanation.
The last-minute delay, communicated via a brief notice signed by the Court of Appeal Registrar on the evening of June 10, has infuriated Mr Lissu’s supporters and raised fresh questions about the administration of justice in the high-profile case.
The hearing was meant to address the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) appeal against a High Court ruling from February 24, 2026. In that ruling, the High Court struck down the prosecution’s attempt to introduce new evidence, prompting the state to halt the trial and seek a revision at the Court of Appeal.
The postponement comes amid escalating tensions between the state and the main opposition party, CHADEMA. Just hours before the delay was announced, CHADEMA Secretary General John Mnyika held an emergency press conference, alleging a coordinated plot by authorities to restrict access to the court and provoke violence.
Mr Mnyika revealed that prison authorities had demanded Mr Lissu provide a list of only 40 people permitted to attend the hearing.
READ MORE: Lissu Treason Trial Halted as Prosecution Flees to Appeals Court After Defeat
“Chairperson Lissu has not agreed to this procedure because it is not in the law and it is not in the procedures of justice,” Mr Mnyika said. “It is a procedure that denies justice being done and justice being seen to be done in a very big treason case.”
He also claimed the party had received intelligence that police were planning to use the hearing as a pretext to assault citizens, alleging a scheme to dress provocateurs in CHADEMA uniforms to incite violence. Police have not commented on this.
“These plots to dress people in CHADEMA uniforms to cause chaos so that the police force gets the legitimacy to beat people and hurt innocent people for lies must stop,” Mr Mnyika demanded.
The prolonged detention of Mr Lissu, who has been held since April 9, 2025, has drawn significant international condemnation. A recent campaign launched ahead of the scheduled June 11 hearing highlighted that the United Nations has classified his detention as “arbitrary.”
According to a statement the campaign released on Wednesday, Mr Lissu is being held in solitary confinement in a 6×6 metre cell on death row, under constant CCTV surveillance, and is denied confidential communication with his family and lawyers.
READ MORE: Tundu Lissu Warns of ‘Pandora’s Box’ in Fiery Clash Over New Evidence
The international community’s concern was further underscored by a recent visit from Martin Chungong, the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), who visited Mr Lissu at Ukonga Prison on May 28 to follow up on the investigation into the 2017 assassination attempt against the opposition leader.
During the meeting, Mr Lissu reportedly told the IPU Secretary General that “since the attack occurred until now, no thorough and satisfactory investigation has been done, nor have firm steps been taken against those responsible for the incident.”
The current delay is the latest in a series of setbacks that have plagued the trial. When the prosecution first announced its intention to appeal the High Court’s ruling in February, Mr Lissu vehemently objected, arguing the move was legally baseless and designed solely to prolong his imprisonment.
“I want it on the record that I know, and I believe the prosecution knows, that the purpose of taking a revision application to the Court of Appeal, when they know it is not allowed, is to prolong these proceedings so that I continue to stay in prison,” Mr Lissu told the High Court on Feb. 24.
The 108-day wait between the High Court’s suspension of the trial and the scheduled Court of Appeal hearing had already drawn criticism from human rights advocates. The sudden extension to July 6 only deepens concerns about the fairness and transparency of the judicial process.
READ MORE: Judges Reject Prosecution Bid to Silence Court Reporting; Lissu Pushes to Discredit More Witnesses
The treatment of Mr Lissu, who survived a 2017 assassination attempt and years of exile before returning to face these charges, has become emblematic of broader concerns about civic space and judicial independence in Tanzania, where the use of legal mechanisms to silence critics of the government remains a persistent issue.
