A Chinese man who was sentenced to death for allegedly murdering two children in 2006 but released years later for a lack of evidence has demanded additional compensation for physical suffering, injecting new impetus into an ongoing conversation about compensation standards in the country.

Nian Bin is now asking for 4.12 million yuan (600,000 US dollars) in compensation from the public security bureaus in Pingtan County and Fuzhou city, in southeast China's Fujian Province, claiming that handcuffs and shackles used on him while behind bars had caused him physical disability.

Nian says he is suffering from a Grade Eight injury – the third lowest on a 10-level occupational injury assessment system – and that he is troubled with muscle weakness in his the left leg.

Nian Bin speaking to reporters. /File photo of SUMG

However, a recent hearing held by the Compensation Committee of the Higher People's Court of Fujian Province dismissed his claims, as an expert from the defendant's side challenged Nian, testifying that the man has not sustained any physical harm from being in custody.

The plaintiff's lawyer, in return, asked for a new trial, arguing that they were not notified of the appearance of a specialist ahead of the hearing. The court is yet to respond.

What is Nian seeking from his legal action?

This is not the first time Nian has taken legal action to increase state compensation.

In February 2015, the Higher People's Court of Fujian Province awarded him 1.19 million yuan in compensation for damages incurred by his loss of personal freedom and mental suffering.

File photo of Nian Bin. /CNS Photo

But Nian refused the ruling and took his case to the Supreme People's Court (SPC) demanding 5.4 million yuan (787,100 US dollars) for medical and treatment fees.

After a one-year review, the court rejected his appeal saying the wrongful conviction, reached by the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court, has hurt Nian's freedom rather than his health, and thus should not be held responsible for any cost of treatment to any injuries Nian might have had.

The SPC noted that if Nian is looking for compensation for illegal treatment or physical damage, he should seek the public security bureaus that held him in custody, and not the court that presided over his conviction.

In 2008, Nian Bin received capital punishment for allegedly poisoning two of his neighbors' children in 2006 with whom he had problems.

In August 2014, the Higher People's Court of Fujian Province overturned the murder conviction, citing insufficient evidence. The final ruling that acquitted Nian followed three previous verdicts that found him guilty and subsequent appeals.

A few months later, in December the same year, Nian filed a lawsuit against the provincial intermediate court requesting 15.32 million yuan (2.2 million US dollars) for freedom loss, medical treatment, mental suffering and other expenses including living costs of his family, transportation and attorney fees. The provincial high court later decided Nian should only receive a tenth of what he asked for – or 1.13 million yuan (166,000 US dollars), starting a series of court battles that have been spanning over two years.

Nian's case has sparked heated discussions about whether further recompense is needed, with some arguing that the former grocery shop owner was released because of insufficient evidence and not wrongful conviction.

The new case continues a long debate over whether compensation standards should be upped in China. 

Huugjilt's mother holds a picture of her son. /VCG Photo

In March this year, the parents of Nie Shubin, who was wrongfully sentenced to death and executed at the age of 21 for alleged rape and murder in 1995, received 2.68 million yuan (394,000 US dollars) in compensation. Nie was posthumously acquitted in 2016, after the real offender confessed his crime.

In another case, the parents of Huugjilt, an 18-year-old who was executed after being falsely accused of rape and murder, received 2.95 million yuan (332,100 US dollars) in compensation.