It is a measure perceived as a democratic setback in the cradle of the Arab Spring.

Thousands of Tunisians took to the streets on Sunday to protest a controversial new decision by President Kais Saied allowing him to expand his power over the judiciary.

In a decree, the president announced that he had replaced the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM), which he dissolved a week ago, with another "temporary" body and gave himself the power to dismiss judges and to forbid them to strike.

More than 2,000 demonstrators

A few hours after this announcement, more than 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Tunis in protest and to express their fears about the independence of the judicial system.

"The people want what you don't want," chanted protesters, referring to the flagship slogan of the 2011 revolution that overthrew the dictatorship of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

“Save our democracy!

», « Do not touch justice!

“, could we read on signs brandished by demonstrators.

The decree, establishing a new “Temporary Superior Council of the Judiciary” partly appointed by the president, also gives Kais Saied the power to dismiss “any judge who fails in his professional duties”.

Moreover, “it prohibits magistrates of all ranks from striking or taking any organized collective action which could disrupt or delay the normal functioning of the courts”.

The fear of a return to authoritarian power

Since July 25, 2021, Kais Saied, supported by the army and the security services, has taken measures to strengthen his power, making his critics fear a return to authoritarian rule.

He first suspended the elected parliament and dismissed the government, then on February 5 dissolved the CSM, an independent body created in 2016 to appoint judges.

The president accused the CSM of "partiality", of being under the influence of the Islamo-conservative Ennahdha party, his pet peeve, and of having slowed investigations into the 2013 assassinations of two left-wing activists, Chokri Belaid and Mohammad Brahmi.

Kais Saied suffered a flood of criticism in his country but also from Westerners after the dissolution of the CSM.

For Ezzeddine Hazgui, of the movement "Citizens against the coup", the protest against the president is gaining momentum.

Kais Saied "previously had a lot of support, but now he is alone", declared to AFP Mr. Hazgui whose movement denounces as a "coup d'etat" the measures taken since July by the president.

The new decree "reinforces the subordination of the judiciary to the executive," said Saïd Benarbia, regional director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), an NGO based in Geneva.

“It is a violation of the basic principles of the rule of law”

"If implemented, the decree will mark the end of judicial independence and the separation of powers, thus bringing about the end of democracy in Tunisia," added Saïd Benarbia.

“This decree gives broad powers to the president, allowing him to control the careers of judges, such as suspending or dismissing them.

It is a violation of the basic principles of the rule of law,” he said.

Several supporters of Ennahdha took part in the demonstration in Tunis, calling for the release of the former Minister of Justice and number two of the party Noureddine Bhiri, and of Fethi Baldi, executive officer of this formation of Islamist inspiration.

The two men had been arrested and forcibly taken on January 31 by plainclothes agents to an unknown location.

Noureddine Bhiri, on hunger strike, was hospitalized the next day in Bizerte (north) after the deterioration of his state of health while the exact place of detention of Fethi Baldi remains secret.

On Wednesday, the organization Human Rights Watch denounced "secret detentions under cover of a state of emergency", recalling that "no arrest warrant has been issued and the authorities have not disclosed any formal charges against them. ".

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