China has fired a supreme court judge suspected of taking bribes, state media said Friday _ the first time a top judge has been removed amid such allegations.
The Xinhua News Agency said Huang Songyou, a vice president with the Supreme People's Court, was fired in October last year and has been ejected from the Communist Party. It said Huang, 51, allegedly abused his powers by accepting bribes but didn't say how much money he is suspected of taking or what he is alleged to have given in return.
Huang's case has been handed over to prosecutors, it said, but gave no further details.
The report quoted Shen Deyong, executive vice president of the supreme court, as saying it marked the first time China has removed a top judge for suspected law and discipline violations.
China has long struggled against corruption among high-level Communist Party officials and is hoping high-profile takedowns will scare the rank and file straight.
Shanghai's former powerful Communist Party chief, Chen Liangyu, became the most senior official to fall when he was sentenced last year to 18 years in prison for his role in a pension fund scandal. Two years ago, the director of China's food and drug agency was executed for approving deadly fake medicine in exchange for cash.
