ALBAWABA - Tunisian judges are to start a nationwide strike on 6 June according to TAP - the Tunisian press agency.
Judicial services will be suspended for one-week, except for the examination of terrorism cases and the obtaining of burial permits, president of the Association of Tunisian Judges Anas Hmadi told TAP.
The strike has been ordered in protest at the decision made by Tunisian President Kais Saied last week to sack 57 judges and accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists according to Anadolu news.
Among those sacked was Youssef Bouzaker, the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council whose members the Tunisian president replaced this year. He said he will file a lawsuit to challenge Saied’s decision to sack the judges, the Turkish news agency added.
#Tunisia: the national council of the Association of #Tunisian Judges #AMT has decided a one-week strike starting Monday, June 6, the AMT president said Saturday, adding judicial services will be suspended, except for examination of terror cases. https://t.co/dVMxOdItQ0 pic.twitter.com/HZUuLT3Wd7
— TAP news agency (@TapNewsAgency) June 4, 2022
“The Judiciary will remain independent,” Bouzaker said in a speech during a meeting of the Association of Judges held in the capital Tunis on Saturday.
Tunisian judges will rally against a decision by President Kais Saied to purge 57 judges earlier this week by holding a strike in all courts come Monday. https://t.co/Uwk0MQ66Ro
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) June 4, 2022
“Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council because he could not control it. Now, he is moving to sack judges but we will not remain silent,” he added according to Anadolu.
Tunisia has been in crisis since July 2021 when Saied froze parliament and said he wanted to introduce a new constitution to revamp the country's political system despite the fact that his critics accused him of instituting a coup.
