According to judicial sources, the Tunisian judiciary on Wednesday postponed the early June removal of some 50 judges, which many NGOs had dubbed a “assault on the rule of law.”
57 judges were removed by presidential decree on June 1 after Mr. Saied, who assumed total authority a year earlier, accused them of corruption and hindering various investigations.
The administrative court received appeals from 53 judges, some of whom were charged with “adultery.”
Imed Ghabri, a spokeswoman for the administrative court, made the announcement to the media regarding the delay of the dismissals for an undefined number of judges.
The suspension affects “approximately 50 judges,” according to attorney Kamel Ben Messoud from the defense committee of the expelled judges, who claimed that they will be able to resume their duties as soon as they obtain a copy of the judgment.
According to Ben Messoud, the decision to suspend the other magistrates has not been advantageous to them because they are being prosecuted on criminal charges.
Without providing any other information, the administrative court informed AFP that it would publish its ruling later today.
A well-attended strike by magistrates lasted more than a month after the removal of these judges was criticized by a number of NGOs, including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, as a “direct attack on the rule of law.”
Since July 25, 2021, Mr. Saied has been acting in the nation’s best interests, which he views as ungovernable. He has centralized all power, which has sparked worries about an authoritarian drift in the region that gave birth to the Arab Spring.
