Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied has relieved 57 judges of their jobs accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists in a purge of the judiciary that comes as he seeks to remake the political system after consolidating one-man rule.
In a televised address Tunisia’s president said he had “given opportunity after opportunity and warning after warning to the judiciary to purify itself”. Hours later, the official gazette published a decree announcing the dismissals.
Among those sacked was Youssef Bouzaker, the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council whose members Saied replaced this year as he moved to take control of the judiciary.
Last summer Saied dismissed the government and seized executive power in a move his foes called a coup before setting aside the 2014 constitution to rule by decree and dismissing the elected parliament.