Chinese court to determine compensation for wrongful conviction

HAIKOU -- A court in South China on Monday accepted a compensation request from a man who spent 23 years in prison after he was wrongly found guilty of murder and arson.

Chen Man was released last month at the age of 53 and filed his claim last week with the Higher People's Court of Hainan Province, seeking 9.66 million yuan (about 1.48 million U.S. dollars) in compensation.

According to his attorney, the demand includes 1.85 million yuan for deprivation of personal freedom, 3.71 million yuan for loss of work, 3 million yuan for psychological trauma, 1 million to cover legal costs of the past two decades, and 100,000 yuan for medical costs.

Court president Dong Zhiliang said a collegiate bench will be formed to handle the case.

Chen was arrested at the end of 1992 and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by Haikou Intermediate People's Court in November 1994.

The local procuratorate deemed the sentence "too light" and called for Chen to be executed. The request was rejected by Hainan Higher People's Court in 1999, beginning Chen's 16-year appeal ordeal.