Court refuses to accept lawsuit against police

The local court in Central China's Henan province has refused to file a man's lawsuit against a police station that detained him for seven months before releasing him due to a lack of evidence of his alleged crime.

Zhang Xiangbing, 36, a worker at a mining company in Wugang city in Henan province, told China Daily on Wednesday he was detained by police on August 23, 2009 when he was going to Beijing to petition after the local village official slashed his hand in a dispute.

The police intercepted him on the way to Beijing and held him for more than seven months on suspicion of blackmailing a local power plant.

Zhang explained he had persuaded local villagers to accept a high-voltage tower construction project, and the power plant gave him 12,000 yuan as a reward.

"The blackmail allegation is totally concocted," Zhang said.

He was released on bail on April 16, 2010. The police canceled the bail a year later and announced he was innocent.

Two policemen told the Dahe Daily that Zhang was held by police for more than seven months and was released because there was not enough evidence against him.

Yang Yatao, a policeman from Wugang public security bureau, told China Daily on Wednesday police failed to collect enough evidence to prove Zhang blackmailed the power plant.

Zhang applied for State compensation from Wugang public security bureau after he was released, but the application was ignored by police.

Zhang said he tried to sue the Wugang public security bureau for the State compensation issue, but the local court refused to file the lawsuit.

"The provincial public security department told me to resort to the court for help, but a judge from the court said that it was none of the court's business," Zhang said.

China Daily's phone calls to the court went unanswered on Wednesday.

Liu Hua contributed to this story.