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Tunisian judges extended a national strike by a fourth week on Saturday to protest the mass sacking of dozens of their peers, the union of judges in the country said in a statement.

The strike will enter its fourth week on Monday.

Tunisian president Kais Saied  on 1 June, accusing them of corruption and protecting terrorists. Various judges’ unions contested the sacking, saying the charges were mostly politically motivated, and launched a nationwide strike on 6 June.

Among those sacked was Youssef Bouzaker, the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council, which acted as main guarantor of judicial independence since the 2011 revolution that introduced democracy in Tunisia.

Several judges  following their dismissal.

Saied seized all executive powers last summer, in a move widely seen as a constitutional coup. He then discarded the 2014 constitution to rule by decree, and dismissed the elected parliament.

Tunisia’s new autocrat also prepared a list of over 400 judges lined up for dismissal in the coming weeks, Tunisian judicial sources .