A court in central China's Hunan Province on Friday rejected the compensation demands of a young rape victim's mother who is suing a local authority for putting her into a labor camp.

After a one-day trial, the Intermediate People's Court in Yongzhou City denied Tang Hui's request for 1,463.85 yuan (US$)234) in compensation from the city's re-education through labor commission for infringing upon her personal freedom.

The court also rejected Tang's request for a written apology from the re-education through labor commission and 1,000 yuan in compensation for the metal damages she suffered.

The labor-camp sentence given to Tang by Yongzhou City Re-education Through Labor Commission was based on the facts of Tang's violating the law, and the sentence was clear and legal, the court said.

Tang said after the court hearing that she would file an appeal.

She had petitioned for harsher punishments for those guilty of raping her daughter and forcing the girl into prostitution. She was put into a labor camp in Yongzhou for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society" by petitioning in front of local government buildings on Aug. 2, 2012.

She was sentenced to 18 months in the camp, but was released eight days later amid a public outcry urging her release.

On January 22, Tang filed a lawsuit at the Intermediate People's Court in Yongzhou City, and the court accepted the case on January 28.

At the court hearing on Friday, Tang's lawyer said the commission had illegally infringed upon her personal freedom, otherwise it would not have withdrawn the sentence later.

However, the defendant's lawyer said the decision to withdraw the sentence was given as Tang had a daughter who was still a minor in need of her mother's care.

Tang's case has sparked public calls for the reform of the re-education through labor system, which allows police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.

Ma Huaide, vice president of the China University of Political Science and Law, said it is widely expected that the case will become a landmark for such reform.

The re-education through labor system was approved by the top legislature and established in the 1950s, a time when the Communist Party of China was consolidating the newly founded republic and rectifying social order.

It has played an important part in maintaining social stability, but more drawbacks have been found in recent years, according to Ma.

Some government officials have abused their power to take advantage of the system to penalize and even physically torture people in labor camps.

This year, the government will push reform of the controversial program, according to the national political and legal work conference that concluded on Jan. 8.

"Although Tang lost the case, the public thinking it triggered will not stop," said Ma, believing the case will help progress China's legal construction.

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