The former village official who had been detained for 15 months for posting online comments "attacking" the Chongqing government's "red song campaign" Thursday filed an appeal to the local higher court after his original suit against the re-education committee was dismissed.

The appeal document, which was made public online by Ren Jianyu's lawyer, requests the Chongqing Higher People's Court overturn an earlier ruling by a lower court that dismissed the case because it was filed after the deadline had passed.

The former official's lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, told the Global Times the lower court showed poor judgment. "Ren had been detained for over a year. It is ridiculous and unfair that the court dismissed his case because it was brought after a deadline he was destined to miss," Pu said, adding that the deadline passed while Ren was in detention and did not have the wherewithal to appeal.

Ren was released on November 19 after the re-education committee appeared to review his case under pressure from media reports that suggested his detention was "inappropriate." The committee has insisted that it made the right decision to detain Ren.

"They told me I had issues and deserved to be re-educated," Ren told the Global Times in a previous interview. He claimed he was approached by committee officials at the labor center, who urged him to drop his suit against the committee in exchange for his freedom, an offer Ren declined.

"I cannot remain saddled with a record of inciting subversion. I want to restore my reputation," said Ren.