Tunisian police close top judicial council offices

Tunisian police have locked the doors of the Supreme Judicial Council, its head told Reuters yesterday, a day after President Kais Saied dissolved it, and have stopped staff from entering the building. Saied's announcement has raised fears for the rule of law in Tunisia after his seizure of almost total power last summer in a move his critics have branded a coup, with judges' associations accusing him of an illegal act that undermines judicial independence. "The president has moved to the stage of seizing institutions. What is happening is very dangerous and illegal," said council head Youssef Bouzakher. Saied has been consolidating his powers since last summer when he suspended parliament and dismissed the prime minister.