DAR ES SALAAM, May 4, 2025 (AFP) - Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, on trial for treason since his arrest last month, will go on hunger strike, his lawyer said Saturday.

The east African country is heading into elections in October but Lissu, head of the Chadema opposition party, faces a potential death penalty if convicted of treason.

"Lissu will be on hunger strike until justice is done," lawyer Peter Kibatala told reporters, adding it would start on Sunday or Monday.

"He is ready for whatever will happen to him," said Kibatala.

Lissu, 57, is protesting a lack of access to his lawyers and family in jail and restrictions on people attending his court hearings, the lawyer said.

On April 24, police beat Chadema supporters as they gathered outside a court in Dar es Salaam for Lissu's first hearing since being charged.

He refused to take part because the authorities had insisted he could only appear by video link.

Lissu has been arrested multiple times over the years and narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in 2017.

His Chadema party has accused President Samia Suluhu Hassan of returning to the repressive tactics of her predecessor, John Magufuli.

Chadema said earlier this year that it would boycott the October elections without reforms, including a more independent Electoral Commission and clearer rules to ensure its candidates are not removed from ballots.

The party was then disqualified from taking part in the vote for refusing to sign an electoral "code of conduct".