Niger Republic Junta Dissolves Judicial Unions, Lawyers Declare Strike

Niger’s lawyers have announced a two-day strike on Thursday and Friday to protest against the military government’s dissolution of the West African country’s justice unions.

The lawyers accuse the junta, which seized power in the jihadist-hit Sahel nation in a July 2023 coup, of threatening the independence of the justice system.

Last week, the junta’s Interior Minister, General Mohamed Toumba, dissolved five judicial unions, a move that Justice Minister Alio Daouda justified by arguing the syndicates were “dragging everyone down” by “promoting personal interests”.

Niger’s bar association on Tuesday denounced the breakup of the unions, urging their “immediate and unconditional re-establishment”.

“By announcing the dissolution of the judicial unions, the government aims to silence those who, through their mission, ensure the independence of the justice system,” the bar said in a statement.

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In a statement on Wednesday, one of the affected unions, the powerful Autonomous Syndicate of the Magistrates of Niger (SAMAN), said it had “already filed appeals against the interior minister’s nefarious decree”.

“Justice must not be held hostage by any power,” the union insisted.

The junta had already dissolved three other unions, one for border guards and two for workers in the water and forestry sectors.

Those unions’ workers are among the officers drafted to help fight the Sahel-nation’s jihadist insurgency.

Fighters linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group have been regularly carrying out attacks in Niger for more than a decade, with the junta struggling to stem the jihadist tide.

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(AFP)

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