The Supreme Judicial Council has issued directives to suspend a judge in Jeddah's District Court to investigate him on charges of corruption. The judge has been suspended to allow the council to hold a session lifting his immunity and then form a committee comprising members of the Ministry of Interior and the Supreme Judicial Council to investigate him on charges of administrative corruption and violation of judicial regulations. The Supreme Judicial Council received directives in relation to this and is expected to take its decision to implement the directives next week. The matter has been included in its agenda for a coming meeting that has been brought forward from an earlier date. The measures are in line with the directives of the new chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, Minister of Justice Dr. Abdul Kareem Al-Isa. This will be the first session to be held since his appointment as Chairman of the Council. The directives stipulate suspending the district court judge after his name repeatedly appeared in a number of corruption cases. In this regard, trainee lawyer Nasr Mubarak Al-Barakati said one of his clients was harmed by the judge, adding that the judge intentionally obstructed the implementation of verdicts issued by other courts against sums of cash. Al-Barakati said that after his client presented his case to him, he discovered errors that the judge had committed. Al-Barakati added that he lodged a complaint with the president of the District Court in Jeddah and called for an investigation. This was on the last working day before the Eid Al-Adha holiday of 1432H (2011). He said that on resuming duty after the Eid holiday, one of those suspected of corruption was investigated and that investigations continued until it was discovered that other people in positions of authority were also involved. They too were investigated by the authorities who called for the judge to be questioned. A request was then filed to lift the judge's immunity and investigate the charges against him. __
