Over 50 judges were suspended on Sunday on charges of supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi, judicial sources told Ahram Online, as part of continual efforts to purge the judiciary of what authorities say are pro-Morsi figures.

The 56 judges are accused of signing a pro-Morsi statement that was read aloud at the Rabaa Al-Adaweya protest camp held for the Islamist president after his removal from office in July 2013.

The judges were suspended according to both judicial authority law and criminal law, and have been referred to a disciplinary council by the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, the sources said.

Tens of judges have been suspended this year on charges of being affiliated with Morsi or the Muslim Brotherhood, from which he hailed.

Morsi himself clashed with Egypt's judiciary during his troubled one-year rule, with critics accusing him of trying to usurp certain judicial powers for the presidency.