Judge describes life on the other side of the fence

In March, Liu Deshan, a former judge in Henan province, received compensation of about 100,000 yuan ($15,000) after being wrongly detained for 488 days.

Five years ago, Liu, 52, was convicted on charges that he abused his power to reduce a prisoner's sentence, but his conviction was overturned at the end of 2011, according to a statement issued by the Supreme People's Court.

Wang Qi, a court clerk who worked on the case, was also wrongfully convicted. He was also paid about 100,000 yuan after being detained for 501 days, the statement said. The statement was unusual, almost unprecedented, because it is rare for the nation's top court to comment on cases involving former officials. The change came after the government decided to move against miscarriages of justice in late 2012.