Tunisia: judges celebrate dismissal victory

Judges and lawyers gather to protest President of Tunisia, Kais Saied’s decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council in front of Palais de Justice in Tunis, Tunisia on February 10, 2022 [Yassine Gaidi / Anadolu Agency]

Members of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates and the Tunisian Association of Women Judges have celebrated the decision to stop the dismissal of a large number of their colleagues. According to Judge Hammadi Rahmani, around 600 judges took part in the celebratory event on Saturday evening.

“This was an expression of their happiness for the return of their colleagues to their duties, their victory and lifting the injustice that was imposed on the most honest judges,” said Rahmani.

He confirmed that union members and human rights activists were among those taking part in the event. They included former parliamentarian and human rights defender Bushra Belhaj Hamida; representatives of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women; the head of the Association of Families of Martyrs and Wounded of the Revolution; former heads of the National Bar Association, including Chawki Tabib, Abderrazak Kilani and Amer al-Mahrazi; and other civil society organisations.

The event was described by Rahmani as “an evening for the free judiciary” over the “injustice of the authorities [and] their judiciary”.

Rahmani is one of the judges who were included in the decisions to dismiss many members of the judiciary, and was mentioned in the rulings of the Administrative Court to suspend their implementation.

READ: Tunisia Ministry of Justice rejects court’s decision regarding dismissal of judges

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