Tunisia Seizes Two Ex-Judges Sacked By President Kais Saied

Tunisia has arrested two former judges who were sacked by President Kais Saied last year, according to reports.

The police detained Bechir Akremi and Tayeb Rached, who were among the dozens of judges and members of the judiciary sacked in 2022, a lawyer close to the cases told the Reuters news agency.

The arrests of the ex-judges on Sunday came on the second day of a wave of detentions of prominent people, amid growing concerns over pollical freedoms in the country.

On Saturday, the police arrested prominent politicians and a politically connected businessman.

The arrests were reportedly based on suspicion of conspiracy against state security.

The president was accused of a power grab after shutting down parliament in 2021 before taking control of the judiciary and pushing through a new constitution that gave his office almost unlimited powers.