[JURIST] Four Chinese judges are facing trials for accepting bribes to fix the outcomes of cases in the province of Anhui [official backgrounder]. The charges coincide with statements [People's Daily report] by Chinese President Hu Jintao [People's Daily profile] - himself a native of Anhui - at an anti-corruption conference in which he claimed that fighting bribery and other scandals is a top priority in China [JURIST news archive]. Last month, China's ruling Communist Party announced the dismissal of a top party official [JURIST report] in Shanghai for involvement in a pension plan scandal, and such scandals have been cited for undermining public confidence in the Communist regime. One prosecutor reported that 17,500 officials have already been punished this year for corruption, and investigations have even reached into the ranks of the Beijing local party leadership [NYT report].

One of the judges facing bribery charges is the former President of the Fuyang city Intermediate People's Court [Wikipedia backgrounder], Zhang Zimin, who is accused of taking $162,000. Reuters has more. Xinhua has local coverage.