Tunisian judges to strike for a week in protest over purge
By Tarek Amara
TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisia’s judges will droop work in courts for per week and maintain a sit-in to protest in opposition to a purge of their ranks, amid rising tensions over the president’s makes an attempt to consolidate one-man rule.
President Kais Saied this week dismissed 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and defending terrorists in a crackdown on the judiciary – his newest step to tighten his grip on energy within the North African nation.
Decide Hammadi Rahmani stated a gathering of judges on Saturday voted unanimously to droop work in all courts, and to start out the sit-in.
The strike will begin on Monday in all judicial establishments and might be prolonged, Anas Hamaidi, president of the Affiliation of Judges, stated.
Final summer time, Saied seized government energy in a transfer his foes referred to as a coup, earlier than setting apart the 2014 structure to rule by decree and dismissing the elected parliament.
Among the many judges fired this week was Youssef Bouzaker, the previous head of the Supreme Judicial Council whose members Saied changed this yr.
The council had acted as the primary guarantor of judicial independence since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution that launched democracy.
In a session attended by a whole bunch of judges, a few of the dismissed judges stated the purge got here after they rejected interventions from the justice minister and in some circumstances from individuals surrounding the president.
“This injustice is not going to move in silence …. These free voices won’t ever be silenced,” Hamaidi stated. “The assault was not solely in opposition to judges, however on the legislation and freedoms.”
Rahed Ghannouhci, the speaker of dissolved parliament referred to as in assertion for “nationwide forces, events, civil society, to face by the judges in resisting the brutal dictatorship to protect an impartial judiciary”.
Saied’s purge of the judiciary sparked worldwide outrage. Washington accused him of undermining Tunisia’s democratic establishments.
(Reporting by Tarek AmaraAdditional reporting by Enas AlashrayEditing by Mark Potter)
