A businessman in Henan claimed that he was forced by the police to sign a 12 million yuan mediation agreement and was detained for 8 months. He applied for state compensation of nearly 180,000 yuan, and the prosecutor has accepted it.
Content reprinted from NetEase, original source: New Yellow River
“I was wrongly detained for more than 8 months. Now my application for state compensation has finally been accepted by the procuratorate. I am very relieved and feel hopeful.” On June 21, Chen Song, a businessman from Zhengzhou, Henan, told the New Yellow River reporter that he had received a text message notification from the Qi County People’s Procuratorate in Kaifeng, Henan on the evening of June 20, stating that “the materials for applying for state compensation have been received. After review, it meets the conditions for acceptance by our court and has been transferred to the Fifth Procuratorate for processing.”
On April 23, 2025, New Yellow River exclusively reported the case with the title “Businessman said he was forced by the police to sign a 12 million yuan mediation agreement, and the procuratorate did not prosecute him after being detained for 8 months”, which attracted widespread attention from the public. According to previous reports by New Yellow River, because of a dispute over a “purchase and sales contract”, Chen Song, a businessman from Zhengzhou, Henan, was reported to the Qi County Public Security Bureau in March 2023 by the other party to the contract on the grounds that he was suspected of fraud. In April of the same year, the Qi County Public Security Bureau found that there was no criminal fact after review and issued a notice of non-filing. In August of the same year, the other party to the above contract reported the case again. According to Chen Song, under the “threat” of the then captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Qi County Public Security Bureau, he was forced to sign a “Mediation Agreement” with the other party to the contract to pay the other party 12 million yuan. Just two days after signing the agreement, the Qi County Public Security Bureau made a decision to file a case, and Chen Song was detained on April 3, 2024. After approval by the Qi County Procuratorate, he was arrested on April 30 of the same year.
The relevant judicial documents in the case show that the case of Chen Song was investigated by the Qi County Public Security Bureau and transferred to the Qi County Procuratorate for review and prosecution on suspicion of fraud and forced transaction. On December 7, 2024, the Qi County Procuratorate made a decision not to prosecute. On the same day, Chen Song was released from the Qi County Detention Center and was detained for 8 months. After that, Chen Song sued the court for the “Mediation Agreement”. On March 7, 2025, the Qi County Court ruled in the first instance that the above “Mediation Agreement” was invalid.
“From the time I was detained on April 3, 2024 to my release on December 7, I was detained for a total of more than eight months. After that, I will consider applying for state compensation.” Chen Song said in an interview with reporters in April 2025. On June 21, Chen Song told reporters that in response to his wrongful detention for more than eight months, he had previously applied to the Qi County Procuratorate for state compensation. The application included: applying for the Qi County Procuratorate to pay 118,880 yuan in state compensation for the infringement of his personal freedom in accordance with the law; applying for the Qi County Procuratorate to eliminate the impact, restore his reputation, and publicly apologize; applying for the Qi County Procuratorate to pay him 59,440 yuan in mental damage consolation money. “I was very pleased to receive a text message from the procuratorate last night (June 20) accepting the application. This is a very good start.”
