04 December 2016

(TAP) - Lawyers will start an open general strike in all courts from Monday, December 5 to protest the Finance Bill for 2017 in its strand dedicated to the taxation of lawyers, the Board of the National Association of Tunisian Lawyers (ONAT) announced on Saturday.

A national march to the Kasbah will also be staged Tuesday, December 6, said Lotfi Arbi, president of the Tunis chapter of ONAT.

Lawyers had observed three sit-ins in recent days to protest the new tax regime governing their profession proposed in the draft budget law for the year 2017.

They demand the annulment of Articles 31 and 32 of that bill and claimed the resignation of Finance Minister Lamia Zribi who had indicated that out of a total of 8 thousand Tunisian lawyers, only half pay their taxes.

© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2016