Tunisian President Kais Saied has announced a plan to dissolve the national judiciary body, citing suspicions of corruption and possible mishandling of politically charged cases, media reports said on Sunday.
Opposition lawmakers said that the move was just the latest example of the president’s extreme power grab.
Saied’s decision to disband the Tunisian Superior Council of the Judiciary came as Sunday marked the ninth anniversary of the assassination of a prominent left-wing leader and an outspoken critic of the Islamist movement.
Photo: EPA-EFE
During a surprise visit to the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior on Saturday night, Saied blasted members of the judiciary, accusing some judges and magistrates of “corruption, nepotism and stalling proceedings in several cases, including those of political assassinations.”
“The Superior Council of the Judiciary can from now on consider itself a thing of the past,” Saied said, adding that a decree to set up a provisional council would be issued.
Opposition leader Chokri Belaid was gunned down outside his home on Feb. 6, 2013. He was a vocal critic of the Islamist movement, Ennahda, which was in power at the time.
Six months later, another left-wing politician, Mohammed Brahimi, was assassinated.
No one has been convicted in either case.
Tunisia devolved into a deep political crisis after the two 2013 killings. Tunisia’s 2011 revolution triggered a pro-democracy uprising and it was the North African country considered to have the best chance of realizing true democratic change until that political crisis.
In July last year, following nationwide anti-government protests, Saied dismissed his prime minister, assumed all executive powers and froze Tunisia’s parliament, the Assembly of the People’s Representatives.
Since then, Saied has been governing by decree, cracking down on corruption, and throwing several lawmakers and businesspeople in jail on corruption charges.
While constitutional lawyers and political opponents, including the influential Islamist party, say the president’s actions are unlawful, the decision has proven widely popular with the Tunisian public.
Supporters of the assassinated politicians have blamed the Islamist party for the killings, saying that Ennahda has slowed down the judicial process in the cases, while Ennahda leaders have denied involvement.
The president has accused magistrates of mishandling Belaid’s case and “denying Tunisians the right to know the truth.”
He called on Tunisians to peacefully protest against judges who have kept “the assassination file in the drawer for years,” although the government has banned public gatherings because of COVID-19 restrictions.
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