Two Chinese bloggers were ordered to pay about 290,000 yuan (42,478 dollars) in compensation to the widow of film director Xie Jin for claiming he died in the arms of a prostitute, a report said Saturday. The claim by the bloggers was picked up by numerous Chinese internet sites after Xie's death in October 2008 at the age of 84, Beijing News said.
A Shanghai court on Friday ordered the two men to pay the compensation to Xie's widow Xu Dawen and also ordered them to write a letter of apology to be posted on the internet. "This trial is unfair, I will not apologise, I will not pay the money and I will appeal," one of the bloggers, Song Zude, told the newspaper. Song has in the past said he had proof that Xie lived a dissolute life, but has not produced the evidence.