Man seeks compensation for wrongful detention
By Li Qian | 2012-9-13 | ONLINE EDITION
A Chongqing resident, who spent two years in a labor camp for spreading an online cartoon that depicts a judicial official as an umbrella for criminal gangs, demanded state compensation of 110,000 yuan (US$17,400).
Peng Hong, 37, was sentenced to a two-year detention in a labor camp in 2009 after he forwarded an online picture that portrays Wen Qiang, former director of Chongqing Judicial Bureau, as an umbrella for mafia-style gangs. Wen was executed in 2010 for corruption crime.
Chongqing authorities vindicated Peng on September 7, nearly one year after he was released from the labor camp because the court ruling was "inappropriate," Beijing-based Youth Daily reported today.
Peng was imprisoned when his wife was six months pregnant and his daughter was born weak due to his wife's depression after his arrest. "The wrong verdict was a blow to my family," he said.
Lei Dengfeng, Peng's lawyer, said Chongqing authorities will receive Peng's appeal for compensation today or tomorrow. They will be sued if they reject Peng's demand, the paper said.
In China, police are empowered to send offenders to a labor camp for education through forced labor of up to four years.
