Former official requests labor camp compensation

CHONGQING - A former village official in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has requested state compensation for the 460 days he spent in a labor camp, local authorities confirmed on Friday.

The Chongqing re-education through labor committee said it has received Ren Jianyu's application and will handle the case in accordance with the law.

Ren, 26, asked for compensation totaling 167,762 yuan (about $27,400) to cover the wages he lost while in the camp, as well as another 83,881 yuan for psychological harm.

In 2011, Ren was sentenced to two years to a labor camp for "spreading negative information and inciting the subversion of state power."

The committee revoked his sentence and released him in November last year after he had served half of the sentence.

Ren said in the application that he expects to get the compensation, as he has not been able to find suitable job following his release.

Re-education through labor policies allow police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial. The practice has been widely criticized and experts have argued that it contradicts high-level laws.

The government said in January that the practice will be the subject of reforms.