Judge investigated for hearing cases while on bail

The Hubei High People's Court said on Thursday that it supports the investigation into Hu Jingzhong, a chief judge from the province's Hanchuan city who continued to hear cases while on bail awaiting trial.

You Quanrong, president of the provincial court, said Hu's case was extremely serious and had a severe negative impact, and the court would prevent similar incidents.

He also demanded all courts in the province resolve management issues, strengthen supervision, eliminate irregular court processes and judge cases with fairness and efficiency.

Those responsible for Hu's illegal actions would be held accountable, he said.

Hu's brother-in-law, Lei Guoguang, was involved in selling fake vaccines in Shandong province. The vaccines, worth up to 570 million yuan ($81 million), were made by licensed producers, but were not kept or transported properly, meaning they either did not work or could cause severe side effects, local police said.

When the case broke in March 2016, Hu drove a police vehicle to help Lei hide and gave Lei a phone SIM card so they could stay in contact, according to court documents.

A month later, Lei and Hu were apprehended by local police.

Hu was placed on bail and went back to hearing cases in the Hanchuan court.

His name appeared in 96 court documents from April 2016 to October 2018, news website The-Paper.cn reported on Tuesday.

It was not until Oct 30 that Hu was removed from his post, according to official records. The local court issued a statement on Wednesday about it and the city's disciplinary body had launched an investigation into the case.

As of March 2017, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said more than 355 people had been arrested in the sales chain for the vaccines, 291 were prosecuted, and 174 officials were investigated for negligence.

A year later, 137 people, including 64 government officials from 18 provinces, had been sentenced for crimes ranging from illegal business practices to corruption.