Dar es SalaamTundu Lissu has already spent 19 months in jail.
Dropping the treason charge removes the death penalty but not President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s main challenger.
The judge ruled his statements were meant to disrupt elections and instigate violence, and sentenced him to 4 years.
“Excuses were created to imprison me,” Lissu, the Chadema party chairman, told the court.
Lissu can appeal to Tanzania’s highest court.
How each outlet framed it
drawn from 60+ reports worldwide
- The Economist leans critical
- frames the verdict as a warning for Tanzania's reputation as a stable democracy, not just a single trial
- Al Jazeera Online leans critical
- foregrounds Lissu's courtroom accusation that judges were following government directives, quoting him directly
Sources: The Economist, Al Jazeera Online