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Tunisian Judges Extend Strike over Sackings

A view shows an empty courtroom during a strike by Tunisian judges in a protest against a purge of their ranks, in Tunis, Tunisia, June 6, 2022. (Reuters)
A view shows an empty courtroom during a strike by Tunisian judges in a protest against a purge of their ranks, in Tunis, Tunisia, June 6, 2022. (Reuters)
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Tunisian Judges Extend Strike over Sackings

A view shows an empty courtroom during a strike by Tunisian judges in a protest against a purge of their ranks, in Tunis, Tunisia, June 6, 2022. (Reuters)
A view shows an empty courtroom during a strike by Tunisian judges in a protest against a purge of their ranks, in Tunis, Tunisia, June 6, 2022. (Reuters)

Tunisian judges decided on Saturday to extend their national strike for a third week in protest against a decision by President Kais Saied to sack dozens of them, judges said.

Saied dismissed 57 judges on June 1, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists - charges that the Tunisian Judges' Association said were mostly politically motivated.

Judges suspended their work in courts on June 4 and said the president's decisions were designed to control the judiciary and its use against his political opponents.

"The judges decided unanimously to extend the strike for a third week ... to hold a day of rage in which the judges will protest in the streets in their uniforms," Mourad Massoudi, the head of the Young Judges Association, told Reuters.

He said members of judges had decided to stage a hunger strike against the decision to dismiss them. Another judge, Hamadi Rahmani, confirmed the decisions.

Saied's move heightened accusations at home and abroad that he has consolidated one-man rule after assuming executive powers last summer. He subsequently set aside the 2014 constitution to rule by decree and dismissed the elected parliament.

Saied says his moves are needed to cleanse the judiciary of rampant corruption and that does not aim to control the judiciary.

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Syria Arrests Officer Linked to Notorious ‘Death Checkpoint’ Near Damascus

Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
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Syria Arrests Officer Linked to Notorious ‘Death Checkpoint’ Near Damascus

Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 

Syrian authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armored Division, over allegations of war crimes and abuses committed at a notorious checkpoint near Damascus.

Haidar, who oversaw the Qutayfah checkpoint along the Damascus-Homs highway north of the capital, is accused of playing a direct role in the disappearance of thousands of Syrians during the country's civil war.

The checkpoint, located near the Third Division’s headquarters, one of Syria's most powerful military units, was widely known among Syrians as a site of torture and arbitrary detention.

In a statement, the Internal Security Directorate in the coastal city of Latakia said Haidar had been detained and described him as a “criminal responsible for the so-called ‘death checkpoint’ at Qutayfah,” and a leading figure in raids carried out by pro-government forces across various parts of the country.

He has been referred to the counter-terrorism unit for interrogation on charges including war crimes and grave violations against civilians, the statement added.

The Qutayfah checkpoint, located at the northern entrance to Damascus, was one of the most notorious and feared military checkpoints during Syria’s civil war, widely associated with the regime’s crackdown on dissidents and army deserters.

Once operated by the Syrian army’s powerful Third Armored Division, the checkpoint was known by Syrians under grim monikers such as the “Death Checkpoint,” the “Checkpoint of Fear,” the “Checkpoint of Horror,” and the “Checkpoint of Arrests and Executions.”

It became a symbol of terror, particularly for residents of the Qalamoun region, but also for Syrians across the country.

According to earlier media reports, thousands of Syrians vanished at the Qutayfah checkpoint during the height of the conflict, many detained without formal charges or due process, often on mere suspicion of opposition sympathies or draft evasion.