By IANS,
Tunis : Tunisia has banned all police unions in the country, as it views them being a threat to the national security, Xinhua reported.
The police unions in Tunisia are demanding fair trial for the 23 officers arrested in connection with the killing of protesters before the Jan 14 unrest, which ended the 23-year rule of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Tunisia’s interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi announced Tuesday a ban on all police unions, which he said represent a threat to the country’s security, the official press agency TAP reported.
Essebsi blamed the police unions for “inciting insurrection”, saying that any union activity will be punished as per law.
He also announced a set of measures aimed at restoring law and order in the face of increasing acts of violence in the country. They included giving more power to the interior minister and governors to prevent sit-ins, attacks on police stations and government buildings, as well as violence against army and police forces.
Meanwhile, hundreds of policemen demonstrated outside his office at the Kasbah Tuesday, seeking resignations of Interior Minister Habib Essid and the army’s Chief of Staff General Rachid Ammar.