Tanzania opposition says jailed leader not seen by family, lawyers

Tanzania's main opposition party said it had failed to get access to its leader who is in detention on treason charges.

CHADEMA said Friday that the family and lawyers of Tundu Lissu had failed to see him at a Dar es salaam jail where he had been kept since his arrest on April 9.

In a statement, the party said it held the Tanzanian government and Prisons Service responsible ble for Lissu's safety.

The Prisons Service quickly denied that Lissu had been moved from jail.

In a statement, the agency dismissed CHADEMA's concerns as misinformation.

"We would like to inform the public that Tundu Lissu is safe and he is still detained at Keko Prison in Dar es Salaam according to the country's laws and procedures," the Service said in a statement.

Lissu came second in Tanzania's 2020 presidential election. Last week, he was arrested and later charged with treason after a speech demanding election reforms.

Prosecutors said the speech called for an uprising.

With another presidential vote on the horizon, critics say President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government has ramped repression against the opposition.

This week, the election commission banned CHADEMA from taking part in elections after the party refused to sign a document pledging to obey the commission's orders.