NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania’s opposition leader charged with treason appeared in court for the first time in months on Monday, but the hearing was adjourned yet again after he opposed the prosecution's plan to have secret witnesses appear in a special enclosed cell.
Opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been in prison for 10 months after he was arrested following an opposition rally in which he called for constitutional and electoral law reforms before last year’s disputed election.
Lissu, who is representing himself in the case, said the punishment for treason is death and that secret witnesses in enclosed cells pose a huge risk and are likely to result in an unjust outcome for the case.
Judges said a decision on the objection would be delivered to the court on Wednesday.
Tanzania’s October 2025 election led to days of protests, the internet was shut down for days, hundreds of people were killed, and thousands of protesters were arrested.
The East African country, a largely peaceful nation, saw its first major wave of violence, which was blamed on foreigners by President Samia Suluhu, who won a second term with more than 97% of the vote, with no major opposition candidate in the running.
Suluhu apologized to diplomats for the internet shutdown and said it would never happen again. She then formed a commission of inquiry, which she said would champion reconciliation, but the main opposition party, Chadema, has been calling for justice for the families whose kin died in the protests.
Chadema deputy party leader, John Heche, on Monday called for the “unconditional release” of Lissu, alleging that Tanzanian authorities had proposed releasing him from prison on condition that he leave the country.
Lissu, whose party did not participate in the October election, has been protesting the slow judicial process, with his case yet to be determined despite his arrest in April 2025.
Last year, he told the court he would represent himself because of frustration with prison authorities, who he said were not allowing him to confer with his lawyers in private.
Lissu is the most visible of Tanzania’s fierce critics of the ruling CCM Party, which has been in power since independence. He survived an assassination attempt in 2017 and was in and out of exile until last year, when he campaigned for reforms ahead of the election.
Main opposition leader Tundu Lissu, far right, gestures with supporters at the High Court of Tanzania as his treason trial continues before a three-judge bench in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Monday, Feb 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Florence Majani)
Main opposition leader Tundu Lissu arrives at the High Court of Tanzania as his treason trial continues before a three-judge bench in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Monday, Feb 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Florence Majani)
Duke received the top overall seed for March Madness on Sunday, followed by Arizona, Michigan and Florida, each of whom would love a repeat of last season when all four No. 1s made it all the way to the Final Four.
The top line was the most predictable thing to come out of Selection Sunday, with Michigan’s drop of one spot to the overall No. 3 the result of the Wolverines' loss to Purdue moments before the brackets were revealed, according to tournament selection chair Keith Gill.
In the day’s biggest nail-biter, Miami (Ohio) made the field as a No. 11 seed, but just barely. The RedHawks, with a 31-1 record but the 339th-ranked strength of schedule, were one of the last teams in the field and they face a First Four game Wednesday against SMU in Dayton, Ohio, not terribly far from home.
The tournament starts Tuesday with other play-in games, including one pitting bubble teams and No. 11 seeds Texas and North Carolina State. The national champion will be crowned at the Final Four in Indianapolis on April 6.
Among those left out were San Diego State, Indiana, Oklahoma and Auburn.
The Tigers had 16 losses but the third-best strength of schedule. The snub drew predictable blowback from Bruce Pearl, their former coach and father of their current coach, who was working for CBS and said “they played the toughest schedule in the country and I don’t know if they were rewarded for it.”
Even with those snubs, the Southeastern Conference led the way by placing 10 teams in the field of 68, four short of its record from last year.
The Big Ten followed with nine, the ACC and Big 12 with eight apiece -- an unsurprising result in an era of massive conference expansion and NIL compensation drawing top players to the biggest spenders.
The Gators (26-7) are the defending champion, trying to repeat their back-to-back titles from 2006-07. Last season, Florida was part of an all-No. 1 Final Four -- the first time that had happened in 17 seasons.
Gill confusingly said Miami (Ohio) was not the last at-large team in the bracket, even though it was ranked in the 1-68 lineup behind bubble teams North Carolina State, Texas and SMU. Those three teams also rated above Miami in some of the key metrics.
The 31 wins must have meant something.
Gill said the committee looked hard at how injuries would impact teams.
No team suffered more, both on the bracket and the court, than North Carolina, which is a No. 6 seed after losing Caleb Wilson to a broken right thumb. JT Toppin’s season-ending knee injury was also a factor in Texas Tech’s No. 5 seeding.
Asked how the NCAA’s seeding principles played a role in moving teams around in the bracket, Gill pointed to the First Four meeting between NC State and Texas the committee would have liked to avoid because it is a rematch of a game they played in the Maui Invitational in November.
He said nothing about placing No. 2 seed Houston in the South, where it could play the regional final in its hometown — normally something the NCAA shies away from. The game could be against Florida in what would be a rematch of last year’s national championship game.
The committee weighed the Big Ten final in moving Michigan down one notch and moving Purdue from a 3 to a 2 seed, but didn’t seem to pay as much attention to the action in the Big East.
St. John’s beat UConn by 20 in that conference final but remained where most bracketologists had them, at No. 5, and with a cross-country trip this week to San Diego to play Northern Iowa. UConn stayed at No. 2 where it had been predicted all along.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Kentucky guard Collin Chandler (5) falls onto Florida forward Alex Condon (21) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Arizona's Jaden Bradley celebrates after making the game-winning shot at the buzzer to defeat Iowa State during an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
