The Tunisian General Workers’ Union (UGTT) announced Friday that Tahar Mezzi, the union’s deputy basic secretary and head of the union’s personal sector, was launched after being arrested on Thursday.
In accordance with the UGTT, Mezzi was detained by authorities authorities in reference to an allegedly fabricated case relating to his in depth involvement in union actions. The incident occurred just some days earlier than the UGTT’s deliberate protest on March 2, aimed toward denouncing what the UGTT described as “the violation of commerce union rights and the disruption of social dialogue.”
In a statement launched Thursday, the UGTT condemned Mezzi’s imprisonment and known as for his quick launch and for the costs in opposition to him to be dropped. It additionally known as for the preservation of the allegedly fabricated file aimed toward undermining the union’s rights. In accordance with the UGTT, Mezzi’s arrest is a purely political resolution and a part of a collection of unfair trials of commerce unionists. The UGTT claimed that the arrest, which happened simply days earlier than the employees’ protest rally in Kasbah Sq., was meant to sow confusion and concern, in step with ongoing coverage in opposition to hanging commerce union actions.
The UGTT urged commerce unionists to however actively interact within the protest scheduled for Saturday, March 2, in Kasbah Sq., and warned members to arrange for additional motion. Union activists hope to halt what they see as extreme violations of the appropriate to commerce unions, in addition to public and particular person freedoms. This protest marked the union’s first in months and noticed a big attendance.
The UGTT, which has round 1 million members, performed a key position responding to the arrests of activists, businessmen and journalists when Tunisia’s President Kais Saied consolidated energy in 2021 by closing parliament, a transfer the opposition known as a coup. Nonetheless, the affect of the union, widely known because the nation’s most essential drive, has diminished considerably since final yr with the arrest of some officers. Some political events and activists have accused the UGTT of inertia, saying it has withdrawn from its influential position and chosen silence over confronting Saied’s authoritarian method.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
