A trade union rally was held on Wednesday morning in front of the headquarters of the local labour union (URT) in Sfax, followed by a march and a protest movement in front of the Court of First Instance in Sfax, following the decision of the Public Prosecutor's Office to keep in detention the Secretary General of the URT of Sfax, Youssef Aouedni, and 4 employees of the New Transport Company of Kerkennah (French: SONATRAK), in a lawsuit brought against them by an employee of this company. Members of the UGTT's executive board and steering committee marched towards the court of first instance, where the Sfax URT S-G. was being interrogated. They chanted slogans calling for the release of the detainees, freedom of trade union work and the independence of the judiciary. In a statement to the media, Sami Tahri, Deputy Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labour Union, said that "this trade union rally in front of the Sfax 1 Court of First Instance was organised as a protest against the mischaracterisation of the case. The latter has taken a different turn: 'from a simple dispute between private individuals to an accusation of criminal conspiracy" and the summoning of the accused to the Aouina barracks, when the case could have been settled by the security and judicial structures in Sfax, he pointed out. For his part, Samir Cheffi, Deputy General Secretary of the Tunisian General Labour Union, stressed that this was a simple dispute between citizens and company employees that could be resolved administratively without recourse to the courts. Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse