Tunisian judges extend protest after dozens sacked

Judges have been striking for three weeks against the sacking of 57 of their peers.

1 min read

26 June, 2022

Judges have been protesting in Tunisia for weeks [Getty]

Tunisian judges extended a national strike by a fourth week on Saturday to protest the mass sacking of dozens of their peers, the union of judges in the country said in a statement.

The strike will enter its fourth week on Monday.

Tunisian president Kais Saied dismissed 57 judges on 1 June, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists. Various judges’ unions contested the sacking, saying the charges were mostly politically motivated, and launched a nationwide strike on 6 June.

Among those sacked was Youssef Bouzaker, the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council, which acted as main guarantor of judicial independence since the 2011 revolution that introduced democracy in Tunisia.

Several judges went on hunger strike following their dismissal.

Saied seized all executive powers last summer, in a move widely seen as a constitutional coup. He then discarded the 2014 constitution to rule by decree, and dismissed the elected parliament.

Tunisia’s new autocrat also prepared a list of over 400 judges lined up for dismissal in the coming weeks, Tunisian judicial sources revealed last week.