Lawyers for Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu have started the process of appealing his four-year prison sentence. The High Court convicted the Chadema chairman of incitement but acquitted him of treason, the charge he first faced. One of his lawyers, Paul Kisabo, said the defence team has already filed a notice of intention to appeal, BBC Swahili reported. The notice is the first step before a formal appeal goes to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania.
Kisabo said Chadema's chief legal counsel, Dr Rugemeleza Nshala, filed the notice on November 6. That falls within the 10 days allowed for this step. Kisabo spoke on Sunday at the Lissu family home, where relatives were mourning Lissu's father.
Kisabo said the lawyers dispute how the court found Lissu guilty of incitement when the original charge was treason. "Lissu was not charged with incitement, did not defend himself against incitement, and was never told he had committed incitement. There was no incitement charge," he said.
The defence also questions why the court jailed Lissu for four years instead of fining him. Kisabo cited section 35 of the Penal Code as part of the legal argument. He said the team cannot file detailed grounds of appeal until it receives the court documents. These include a copy of the judgment read on November 6 and the full record of proceedings. The lawyers expected to receive them on Monday.
The High Court's Dar es Salaam sub-registry sentenced Lissu on November 6. The case ran for about 19 months. Police arrested Lissu on April 9, 2025, in Mbinga, Ruvuma region, shortly after he addressed a Chadema rally. The trial opened at the High Court on September 8, 2025. The judgment came 577 days after his arrest.
Tanzania's Mwananchi newspaper reported separately that the judgment has raised 10 legal questions.