Tunisian judges have wages cut after going on strike

President Kais Saied dismissed 57 judges last week for alleged corruption

Tunisian judges protest against President Kais Saied's move to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council in February. Photo: EPA

Tunisian President Kais Saied has ordered the country's justice minister to slash the wages of judges who began a week-long strike on Monday.

Last week, Mr Saied last dismissed 57 judges by presidential decree, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists — a move that extended his reach within the judiciary.

Four judges' unions pushed back against the sackings, which they consider to be "interference" in the judiciary.

Tunisia has been reeling from political turmoil after Mr Saied's decision to dissolve parliament last year — a move that the opposition said is an attempt by the president to seize power.

In February, Mr Saied also dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council which is responsible for appointing judges independently.

“Issuing a decision without questioning or any internal disciplinary action leads to the creation of a fragile judiciary which only benefits the president,” Afif Jaibi, a judge at the Court of Cassation, told The National earlier.

Another judge, Ahmed Abidi, who specialises in family cases, said he learned of his dismissal after reading about it in the newspaper.

“I was not even informed of the decision. I only read it in media … I don’t even deal with major cases; I was shocked,” he told The National.

The country is also in the middle of a constitutional re-write, which will reportedly not contain any references to Islam, Tunisia's official religion.

The constitution adopted three years after its 2011 revolution describes Tunisia as "a free, independent and sovereign state, Islam is its religion and Arabic is its language".

But Sadeq Belaid, the legal expert appointed last month to lead the committee drafting the new constitution, told AFP that "80 per cent of Tunisians are against extremism and against the use of religion for political ends".

"That's exactly what we want to do, simply by erasing Article 1 in its current form," he said.

Mr Belaid confirmed to AFP that there would be no reference to Islam in the draft, which will be presented to Mr Saied before a planned July 25 referendum on the new constitution.