At its plenary session on Thursday 8 May, the European Parliament adopted a resolution by a show of hands calling for the immediate release of Tundu Lissu, the chairman of Chadema, the main opposition party in Tanzania. The political opponent was arrested on 9 April after a campaign meeting of his party and was charged with “treason” the following day.
MEPs are calling on the Tanzanian authorities to restore the party’s full participation in the elections scheduled for October 2025. They call on the authorities to engage in dialogue with all political parties on electoral reform, to respect the rights of the parties and to guarantee free and fair elections.
They denounce the escalating repression in the East African country, as well as the arbitrary arrests and harassment of the opposition, rights defenders, journalists and civil society organisations.
The European Parliament also urges Tanzania to abolish the death penalty.
According to Amnesty International, the country is considered to be “abolitionist in practice”. However, the death penalty continues to be handed down by Tanzanian courts, particularly for so-called ‘treason’ offences.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/gps (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)