Tunisian President Saied Sacks 57 Judges On Corruption Charges and covering up suspects
The Official Gazette revealed that Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed on Wednesday 57 judges who were accused earlier yesterday of corruption, collusion and covering up suspects in terrorism cases.
Saied, who assumed executive power last summer, dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree in a move his opponents described as a coup, had said earlier on Wednesday during a ministerial meeting that he would make a political decision to purge the judiciary.
The list that Saeed dismissed included senior judges, including Youssef Bouzakher, head of the dissolved Supreme Judicial Council, and Bashir Al-Akrimi, a judge accused by political activists of concealing terrorist case files and having a close relationship with Ennahda, which Ennahda denies.
Saied had earlier this year dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and replaced it with a temporary council, in a move that his opponents and judges said was aimed at putting his hand on the judicial authority.
Saeed says that the judiciary is a function, not an authority.
Said has long accused Qudah of being involved in suspicious relations with political parties.
“The sacred duty motivates us to take this historic decision in order to preserve social peace and the state,” he said at a ministerial meeting.
And a decree issued in the Official Gazette said, “The president may, in the event of ensuring or compromising public security or the supreme interest of the country, and based on a reasoned report from the authorized authorities, issue a presidential order to dismiss every judge to whom it may affect the reputation of the judiciary, its independence, or its good conduct. “.
He added, “I have been given opportunity after opportunity and warning after warning until the judiciary purifies itself… But we can only cleanse the country of corruption and transgression of the law with a complete purification of the judiciary.”
“A public lawsuit is raised against every judge who is exempted within the meaning of this chapter,” he added.
