Tunisian judge jails 8 police union members over protest

TUNIS: A Tunisian judge has jailed eight members of a police union for harming public security and disobedience after clashes with police forces who tried break up their sit-in protest, a union official said on Friday.

Tension has been growing between police unions and the Interior Ministry. The unions accused the authorities of trying to stifle union activity, which it say is a valuable gain they achieved since the 2011 revolution.

It comes as President Kais Saied faces widespread criticism that he is tightening his grip after he seized executive power last year, dissolved parliament, named a new election body and replaced the judiciary Supreme Council in steps his opponents called as a coup.

Saied denies the accusations and says he is only seeking to establish a new republic that will end years of chaos, lawlessness, lack of justice and rampant corruption. He has called several times this year for the unification of security unions into one and limiting their activity, which police union members oppose.