Tunisia-Dismissal of the 57 magistrates: AMT threatens to extend the strike

 President of the Association of Tunisian Judges (AMT) Anas Hmadi warned that it will extend the strike in courts and judicial institutions for a second week if the presidential decree No. 516 which fired 57 judges is still maintained.

In a press conference held, Thursday, by the Coordination of Judicial Structures, under the sign of “Dissmissing Judges: Causes and Outcomes”, Hmadi urged the President of the Republic to nullify the presidential decree in question, arguing that it is “an unfair, illegal and unconstitutional text.”

“The judges are ready to resume work from tomorrow provided this injustice is lifted and accountability is established,” he vowed.

The AMT President added that “the goal behind this wave of dismissals is to create vacancies in judicial responsibility positions and punish judges who refused to comply with injunctions contrary to the principle of the sovereignty of the law.”

“The judges are against the dissmissal their colleagues,” he pointed out, stressing that it is “a tool that undermines the independence of the judiciary and does nothing but increases corruption in the sector.”

For the AMT president, more than two thirds of the judges mentioned in the presidential decree were dismissed “without any legal reason”, adding that their dismissal was decreed by sharing secret security reports and wiretapping operated outside the law.

The Coordination of Judicial Union Structures is made up of 6 structures: the Association of Tunisian Judges (AMT), the Union of Tunisian Judges, the Union of Judges of the Administrative Court, the Union of Judges of the Court of Auditors, the Association of Women Judges, and the Association of Young Judges.

(TAP)