China former top judge faces anti-graft probe

A former top judge in China will be probed for allegedly accepting bribes and promoting nepotism as the Communist nation today extended the anti-graft campaign for the first time to top echelons of the judiciary.
Xi Xiaoming, the former vice-president of Supreme Court, suspected of "severe discipline and law violations," China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement
Xi, 61, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The CCDI of the CPC found he had "seriously breached disciplines," the statement said.
Xi, who had over four-decade-long association with the party and held influential positions, is the first high-level judicial official to be investigated under the massive anti-graft campaign being carried by President Xi Jinping in which thousands of officials, including top level CPC officials and military officials have been indicted.

Those who faced graft probes included former national security Chief Zhou Yangkong and about 40 high ranking military officials.

Xi has carried out "coercive measures," which include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest, Supreme People's Procuratorate said in a statement.
Xi, formerly one of the nine deputy justices for the country's top court, has severely violated political discipline and disobeyed the cardinal policy of ruling the country in accordance with the law, it said.
Earlier this year, the President who is the General Secretary of the CPC vowed to advance judicial reforms and the rule of law to safeguard the people's rights and interests, guarantee social justice and promote national development.