Tundu Lissu ends hunger strike after a private prison visit
DAR ES SALAAM — Tanzania’s jailed opposition leader Tundu Lissu ended a brief hunger strike on 27 October after meeting privately with his younger brother, according to his lead lawyer. The Chadema leader had refused food in protest against restrictions on confidential legal consultations as he awaits judgment in his treason trial.
Lawyer Rugemeleza Nshala told Associated Press that Lissu initially planned to begin the protest on Monday but postponed it after prison officials promised private access. When the consultations did not happen, he stopped eating on Tuesday morning, resuming after the family meeting that afternoon.
Dispute over access
Nshala said lawyers had sometimes been prevented from seeing Lissu altogether. He also expressed concern about the health consequences of refusing food because his client depends on medication. The account does not establish whether the meeting with Lissu’s brother resolved the wider dispute over confidential access to lawyers. ABC News
Tanzania’s prisons service disputed reports of a hunger strike, telling local newspaper Mwananchi that Lissu was safe and was not refusing food.
Treason judgment approaches
Lissu has been detained for more than 18 months following his arrest in April last year after a rally calling for electoral reforms. The treason charge carries a possible death sentence, with judgment scheduled for 6 November.
The immediate question is whether Lissu will receive consistent, confidential access to his legal team before that ruling. Ending the hunger strike does not, on the available account, confirm that those arrangements are now in place.
Anyone with additional information can contact the press desk at press@townpress.co.za or drop a tip.