Re-education victim vows to continue campaign (2)

Ren's case has triggered enormous public attention, with hundreds of thousands throwing their support behind him via the Internet and calling for reforms to fix the system.

In an online discussion on Sina Weibo Wednesday, Ren said the biggest problem of the re-education system is that it shackles freedom of speech.

The People's Daily, a flagship paper of the CPC Central Committee, also carried an editorial Wednesday on Ren's case, saying that the re-education system has been "caught in an awkward situation in its legitimacy."

It also questioned the ambiguity in the system and indicated that it has become an instrument for retaliation in some cases.

The system allows sentences to be handed down without trial in court and is used as an administrative punishment for those who are minor offenders instead of criminals.

According to the Procuratoral Daily, Wang Gongyi, director of a research institute under the Ministry of Justice, said last month that more than 60,000 people are currently undergoing re-education through labor programs, and the number once reached around 300,000. Most of these served terms between six and 12 months.