A man who was acquitted from murder charges and released last year is sticking to his claim of state compensation of more than 15 million ($2.4 million), after a court agreed to less than a tenth of the amount, New Express reported.

Nian Bin, 38, pleaded with the Fujian High People's Court on March 18 to overturn an earlier verdict by the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court which announced to pay him 1.14 million yuan as compensation for freedom and mental damages from eight years of wrong imprisonment.

The figure, to the indignation of Nian and his family, is far from what they are after – 15.3 million yuan plus an official apology by the Fuzhou court on state media instead of “in the scope influenced by tort”.

“What they mentioned about the apology is ambiguous and we just don't see any possibility of execution in future. So we apply for the reconsideration of the verdict. A face-to-face sorry from the court will do a lot of good to healing of Nian's psychological trauma,” said Gongsun Xue, Nian's attorney.

Gongsun went on to say that the 550,000 yuan for mental anguish proposed by the Fuzhou court was a paltry amount compared with the 10 million yuan they were asking for in the petition, and justified that staggeringly large figure by shining a light on the sleepless nights spent endlessly agonizing over a pending death sentence.

The plaintiff's elder sister, Jianlan, stated previously that the 1.14-yuan compensation the Fuzhou court offered was ridiculous and a “second injury” for her brother.

In 2008, Nian was sentenced to death in Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court for poisoning and murder.

Two years later, the country's top court refused to uphold the death penalty.

Nian was again sentenced to death in 2011 in the intermediate court after the case was reviewed.

However, last August the provincial high court decided he was innocent, citing a lack of evidence, and ordered his release.

In November, police in Pingtan said they had reopened the case and barred Nian from leaving the mainland.