Nobel laureate Mo Yan accused of insulting China’s heroes in lawsuit

Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in 2012 (AP)

Mo Yan, the winner of China’s first Nobel Prize for Literature, is being sued under a law that carries civil penalties for perceived slights against the country’s heroes and martyrs.

Patriotic campaigns have become more common in recent years in China, as online nationalists attack journalists, writers or other public figures they say have offended the country’s dignity, but it is unusual for a figure as prominent as Mo to be targeted.