A Saudi defence lawyer has asked court to summon a jinn (genie) claimed to have possessed a judge who has been arrested on corruption charges, the Saudi Arabic language daily Okaz reported on Saturday.

The lawyer, Salim bin Atteyya, told court that the jinn must be present in court to testify in the case of the corrupt judge in Madina, Islam’s second holiest shrine after Makkah, the newspaper said.

“The case of the corrupt judge in Madina has taken a new turn and witnessed new developments as the lawyer of an absent defendant has asked court to summon the jinn to testify,” the paper said.

“If what the accused judge said about the jinn, then this jinn could be bad and blasphemous…this jinn could have been sent by a bad sorcerer because witchcraft is bad and non-Islamic.”

Okaz quoted the lawyer as saying he had made that demand on the grounds any sentence must not be based on “jinn’s allegations”, presented by an exorcist.

“This Raqi ( Koran reciter and exorcist) has not presented any real evidence that the accused judge has been possessed by jinn,” the lawyer said.

In a report on the case early this week, Okaz said the accused judge told court he was under a magic spell by jinn when he was involved in such practices.

The paper said the court summoned Fayez Al-Kathami, a well-known cleric and Raqi who is believed to have the powers of speaking to jinn.

It said the court summoned Kathami after the arrested judge said he was possessed by jinn through another defendant, who is a sorcerer.

Kathami told the judge later that he managed to "question" the jinn that had possessed the judge and would present a report to the court.

"The judge also asked me to question the jinn about all the offences committed by the accused judge and other defendant who is at large," Kathami said.

"The jinn told me all I want through the accused judge...I have written all what the jinn said about the judge's life and the other defendant....I will write a full report and present it to the court, proving this judge has been under a spell."

According to Okaz, the corrupt judge had told investigators that the other defendant had "taken control of his thoughts and made him rule on cases without being conscious of committing any illegal act."