International condemnation escalated over Tunisian President Kais Saied's calls to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council, while political forces warned against any decisions affecting the independence of the judiciary and threatened to confront them.
In the latest international reactions, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that his country is deeply concerned about the Tunisian president's calls to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council.
In a press conference, Price called on the Tunisian government to respect the independence of the judiciary and speed up the process of political reform.
For his part, US Republican Senator Jim Risch expressed concern about Tunisian President Kais Saied's attempt to dissolve the country's Supreme Judicial Council.
Rich said in his tweet that Said's attempt to dissolve the council is the latest in a series of his anti-democratic moves, and that the United States is committed to working with the Tunisian people to support a free and independent judiciary.
For its part, the European Union said that it is following with concern the development of the situation in Tunisia, including the President of the Republic's recent announcement of the dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary.
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said that there is a very clear need to treat the judicial authorities in Tunisia with justice and respect.
In response to a question about Saeed's decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council, Haq stressed that the United Nations calls on all political forces in the country to respect the judicial system and treat it fairly.
Headquarters closed
Tunisian security closed the headquarters of the Supreme Judicial Council, in implementation of the decision announced yesterday by President Kais Saied to dissolve the Council and consider it a thing of the past.
Tunisian security did not clarify the source of the instructions to close the council's headquarters, which, in turn, renewed its determination to continue its work despite these measures.
The head of the Supreme Judicial Council in Tunisia, Youssef Bouzakher, said that the police forces closed the doors of the council with iron locks, and prevented employees from entering it, after the president's decision, the day before yesterday, Sunday, to dissolve the council.
Bozacher described the presidential decision as dangerous and illegal, stressing that the president has reached the stage of confiscating institutions, as he put it.
Members of the Association of Judges also called to study the response to Said's actions, and to take "struggle steps to protect the judiciary and the sanctity of the courts," as they put it.
The honorary president of the Tunisian Judges Association, Rawda Al-Qarafi, said that coordination and consultation is underway between the bodies representing judges to organize protest movements to counter President Kais Saied's move.
She added, in a statement to Anadolu Agency, that "the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council was expected after the campaign and the attack on the judges and the council, in a collective accusation of corruption and negligence."
happy statements
Meanwhile, the Tunisian president said that he will not interfere in the work of the judiciary.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Najla Boden, he stressed that his decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council was necessary, noting that the purification of Tunisia can only be achieved with a fair judiciary.
According to what was stated in a video clip broadcast by the Tunisian presidency on Facebook, the Tunisian president rejected the accusations against him of seeking to collect authorities, denouncing the failure of the Tunisian judiciary to decide on any of the assassination cases that occurred in recent years.
In a supportive stance for the president, the Dean of Tunisian Lawyers, Ibrahim Bouderbala, defended Saied's decisions regarding the Supreme Judicial Council.
Bouderbala said in a previous Al Jazeera bulletin, that the president can take such a decision according to the exceptional procedures he has adopted.
Complaint against Saeed
Meanwhile, the former minister and founder of the Democratic Current, Mohamed Abbou, filed a complaint with the Public Prosecution against the Tunisian president, against the background of the decisions he took.
In a post on Facebook, Abbou said that the ball is now in the judges' court, calling on the public prosecutor (the attorney general) to apply the law without other accounts, or to leave others to do their duty.
He added that he wanted President Saeed to impose the rule of law on everyone with exceptional measures, but said that Saeed had become a danger to the country.
The position of the Renaissance
In the same context, the Ennahda movement rejected Said's decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council, describing it as unconstitutional.
She said that the decision aims at the president's acquisition of the justice facility and control of its joints, to use it as a tool to liquidate political opponents.
In a statement, the movement expressed its determination to exercise all forms of peaceful struggle alongside partisan and civil parties, in order to overturn the decision.
The statement also called on the security forces to provide the necessary protection for the judges, and for the president to bear responsibility for any infringement on the dignity, rights and physical integrity of judges.
He stressed that the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary are an irreversible constitutional gain.
Ennahda spokesman Imad Khamiri said that the decisions taken by President Said plunge Tunisia further into its political crisis.