MADINA: The secretary of the Higher Judicial Council has said that the judge being held on corruption charges and who claims he was “under a spell” at the time of the offenses, has not been removed from his post. “No such move has been made by the Council,” Sheikh Abdullah Al-Yahya told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. Al-Yahya made the remark in response to the circulation Saturday of mobile phone text messages between lawyers and other officials in the judiciary reporting that the judge had been dismissed. The messages were said to have originated from “judicial sources”. The Madina judge was first taken into custody during Ramadan for allegedly accepting bribes to arrange through his court illegal ownership of real estate. Several businessmen and state employees along with seven engineering and planning firms are all suspected of involvement in the various cases that passed through his courtroom. The case attracted wider public attention when the judge claimed that he had been put “under a magic spell” by a real estate broker who is also being investigated in the same case. The judge claimed he was later cured of the spell through “ruqya”, healing through Qur'anic recitation. The Higher Judicial Council is responsible for inquiries into breaches of regulations on the part of judges, and the Council said last week that the investigation into the wide-ranging case was ongoing. Legal experts told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that they expect the judge to have the funds he earned during the course of his duties seized by the state and that if the case goes to trial it will be heard behind closed doors. The judge will be allowed a defense attorney, and, due to the special nature of the case, the ruling will be decided by a majority at the Higher Judicial Council and will be final.
