Amsterdam & Partners LLP Calls for Suspension of Aid to the Tanzanian Government Following Poisoning Attempts Against Opposition Leader Tundu Lissu

London, July 3, 2025 – Amsterdam & Partners LLP, as international counsel to CHADEMA, the largest Tanzanian opposition party, and its Chairman, Tundu Lissu, are alarmed at credible reports indicating an attempted poisoning of Mr. Lissu while in custody. The attempt, first brought to light by CHADEMA party officials, marks a chilling escalation in the systematic persecution of political opposition figures under the administration of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Robert Amsterdam, founder and Managing Partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, states that: "the latest attack on my client is not an isolated act but part of a broader campaign to silence and destroy the political opposition in Tanzania. From fabricated treason charges, unlawful detention, and denial of legal access to the targeting of opposition supporters and foreign activists, the Tanzanian government has crossed every red line of democratic legitimacy”.

CHADEMA has previously warned of deliberate repression, with numerous members abducted, detained, or harassed in recent months. The poisoning attempt is just the latest in a pattern of politically motivated abuses.

In light of these developments, Amsterdam & Partners LLP is calling on all donor states and institutions providing budgetary support to the Tanzanian government to immediately suspend such aid pending independent investigations and demonstrable reform.

"President Hassan should hang her head in shame," Mr. Amsterdam continues, adding: "We will be actively engaging with donor governments in the coming days to urge a suspension of support. No government should subsidise state violence against democratic opposition."

Mr. Lissu, a lawyer and human rights advocate who survived a previous assassination attempt in 2017, when he was shot 16 times, was arrested in April 2025 and remains detained on politically motivated charges of treason. Amsterdam & Partners LLP has filed an application with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in response. The apparent poisoning attempt adds a new and deeply disturbing dimension to his detention.

Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law based in Washington, D.C. and London, with a focus on political advocacy and human rights. For more information, visit www.amsterdamandpartners.com, and for media inquiries, please write to contact@amsterdamandpartners.com.