Three judges in Shanghai are to be expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and another put on probation, authorities said yesterday, days after accusations that they used prostitutes emerged online.
An inquiry was opened after an anonymous blogger, identified by state media only by his surname Ni, posted footage online last week alleging that five officials hired sex workers at a local resort.
It is the latest in a series of scandals over corruption and other disciplinary violations, including sexual impropriety, by Chinese officials to be revealed online by whistleblowers. Using prostitutes is illegal in China.
Shanghai’s party disciplinary commission said four judges and an executive at a state-owned company visited the resort last month, but only four of the men patronized prostitutes.
Chen Xueming (陳雪明) and Zhao Minghua (趙明華), the chief and deputy chief judges of the Shanghai Higher People’s Court No. 1 Civil Tribunal are to be expelled from the CCP, the commission said on its Tencent Weibo account.
Ni Zhengwen (倪政文), the deputy chief of the court’s own discipline inspection commission, is also to be expelled, it said.
Wang Guojun (王國軍), deputy chief judge of the court’s No. 5 Civil Tribunal, did not engage with prostitutes and will be put on two years’ party probation.
The commission will also ask the party to dismiss all four as judges.
A Shanghai Construction Group executive, Guo Xianghua (郭祥華), was sacked by the firm and is to be expelled from the party, the commission said.
The surveillance video posted by Ni allegedly showed five officials, including Chen and Zhao, entering a luxury room after a banquet, followed by several women who stood by the door. Subtitles said that Chen allocated the prostitutes.
Ni claims Zhao intervened in a civil case in 2009 that caused him a huge financial loss, the Global Times reported on Monday.
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