Senior CHADEMA party officials, his lawyers and family members said they tried unsuccessfully on different occasions on Friday to get access to him at a jail in the capital Dar es Salaam where he has been held since April 9.

Prison service authorities could not be reached for immediate comment.

Government Spokesperson Gerson Msigwa did not immediately respond to calls and text messages seeking comment.

"CHADEMA would like the Prisons Service, concerned government agencies to give information on where Lissu has been taken," the party said in a statement.

Lissu, runner-up in the country's 2020 presidential election, was charged with treason last week over what prosecutors said was a speech calling on the public to launch a rebellion and disrupt the election. He was not allowed to enter a plea on the treason charge.

The charges against him will bring fresh scrutiny to President Samia Suluhu Hassan's human rights record as she bids for re-election later this year.


--Reuters--