An appeal court in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by a man who spent a year in a re-education through labor camp after he ridiculed the municipality's former Party chief Bo Xilai online, China National Radio reported Sunday.

The Chongqing Third Intermediate People's Court dismissed Fang Hong's suit in which he claimed that he had been detained for more than a year and was therefore entitled to much more compensation than he had been offered.

Fang claimed that he was incarcerated for 367 days but the court discounted 16 days of his term.

He was released in April 2012 after Bo and Wang Lijun, who headed the municipality's public security bureau, were put under investigation and then expelled from their posts.

In spring last year the court cleared Fang of any wrongdoing and in September the Chongqing commission for re-education through labor offered him 56,764.85 yuan ($9,168) in compensation.

Fang took the commission to court demanding 426,692.55 yuan in compensation and a formal public apology, a county-level court rejected his suit in January.

Friday's appeal court ruling said Fang spent 16 days working outside of the center and because he had spent less than a year in the center he was not eligible to receive compensation for mental anguish.

The timeframe requirement was not explained in online court documents.

The court also upheld the original compensation and rejected Fang's request for a public apology saying that the commission's attorney had apologized in court.

Fang ridiculed and mocked Bo and Wang on the Internet in April 2011. He was then sent to the center for disturbing public order and spreading rumors.

Fang was an employee of the forestry bureau in Fuling district who had few followers of his Weibo account.

Since his case made headlines across the country, some commentators described his online remarks prior to his detention as vulgar and caustic.

Global Times