The former president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) and spokesman for the Coordination of the 57 magistrates dismissed by a decree of the President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed, Youssef Bouzakher, declared that his colleagues “will knock on all doors of the justice”, before launching this challenge to the Head of State: “The courts will decide between us.”
In a statement to the media on the sidelines of a national emergency council of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates (AMT), today, Saturday, June 4, 2022, Mr. Bouzakher confirmed that the dismissed judges will file a complaint before the national justice and international. He added that all measures relating to justice taken since July 25, 2021, the date of the proclamation of exceptional measures by President Saïed, is contrary to the constitution and international standards.
Mr. Bouzakher considered that President Saied “appointed himself as supreme judge, public prosecutor and president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary”, while describing as “shocking” the decision to dismiss 57 judges, which, in his view, put an end to the independence of the judiciary.
It should be noted that a presidential decree published on June 1 dismissed 57 judges, including Youssef Bouzakher, Taïeb Rached, former president of the court of cassation, and Bechir Akremi, former public prosecutor.
This decision was taken following the laxity and the bad will shown by the judges in the examination of the cases of corruption and attack on the security of the State where some of the tenors of the courthouse are implicated.
