Zhang Jun, top Hubei judge, dismissed after tryst video emerges
Investigation launched after Zhang Jun caught with mistress on CCTV footage at budget hotel
A senior judge in Hubei province was sacked yesterday after a video emerged online showing him entering and leaving a hotel with his alleged mistress.
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| A series of screengrabs taken from the video show the two at a budget hotel. Photos: news.163.com |
Zhang Jun, who headed the third division of the provincial criminal court, was dismissed by Hubei's High People's Court, which said he would be subjected to further investigation and "treatment". It said Zhang had maintained a long-term affair with a woman.
The footage, dated October and taken from a budget hotel's CCTV cameras, surfaced on popular internet forums on Sunday, along with a post indicating Zhang's name and workplace.
The nearly 18-minute video showed Zhang and the woman in the lobby, where she checked in while he waited in the lounge, before taking the same lift.
They were seen leaving the hotel separately more than two hours later.
The woman was said to be a lawyer at a major law firm.
The higher court earlier denied that Zhang - who was a district court judge before being promoted to his latest position in 2011 - worked for the provincial judiciary.
It was unclear who leaked the video, which triggered a wave of online comments, with many people referencing other "sex scandals" involving judges. The postings and the video were promptly removed from several websites.
Surveillance video
In August, three judges in Shanghai were sacked for visiting a nightclub together and sleeping with prostitutes. They were also caught on tape and exposed online, sparking a public outcry.
The incident led Cui Yadong, the party chief and acting president of the Shanghai Higher People's Court, to announce a six-month 'moral education campaign" to ensure other court officials behaved properly.
