Prosecutors in east China's Jiangsu Province on Monday filed a public interest litigation against a local resident who defamed a firefighter who died battling blaze.

This is the first litigation of its kind following adoption of a national law to protect the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs in April. The law took effect on May 1.

The man, surnamed Zeng, circulated incorrect information on social media on May 14, defaming Xie Yong, a firefighter who died on duty on May 12, according to prosecutor of Huai'an City.

Police detained Zeng on May 15, and a prosecutor filed a case for investigation on May 17.

On May 3, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) stressed the importance of filing public interest litigation cases against activities defaming heroes and martyrs.

The SPP also asked procuratorates nationwide to handle a series of typical cases in order to set up precedents, and educate the public.

In another case in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a man has been detained for 10 days for defaming martyrs online.

The man, surnamed Jiang, posted comments defaming Dong Cunrui and Huang Jiguang, both well-known war heroes, on Sina Weibo on May 17, said the public security bureau of Yinchuan, capital city of Ningxia.

The posts were reported to the police by Weibo users. The local police put Jiang in detention for 10 days and fined him 500 yuan (78.3 U.S. dollars).

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