Local courts have sentenced three men to detention for repeatedly refusing to comply with rulings to pay court-ordered compensation, the city's highest court said Thursday.

The three men, surnamed Wu, Sheng and Xu, were each charged in separate cases with refusing to comply with a court order, according to Shanghai Higher People's Court. The three were among the 101 defendants who have been detained this year for defying court orders.

The charges show that the city's courts have been ratcheting up the pressure on defendants who have ignored court orders, said Gu Weiqiang, vice-president of Shanghai Higher People's Court.

"Along with publicizing the names of 1,056 deadbeat defendants who have repeatedly refused to pay court-ordered compensation, the local courts will continue to take stricter measures so that these defendants will face criminal charges," Gu said at a press conference Thursday.

The defendant surnamed Sheng had been sentenced to six months in detention for the illegal disposal of frozen assets, the court said.

Sheng had owned a company that manufactured bags and cases. After suffering financial difficulties, he owed his employees 1.1 million yuan ($176,330).

Jinshan District People's Court froze Sheng's assets in the company after the district's human resources and social security authority filed an application of property preservation on July 1.

Shortly afterward, Sheng used the equipment, the cases and the bags as collateral to secure an outside loan.

After receiving the report, the court and the police began to collect evidence that Sheng was illegally disposing of the sealed assets.

By April 20, the city courts had settled 13,687 cases involving more than 600 million yuan. Among all the cases, local courts ordered defendants involved in 6,756 traffic accident disputes to pay 494 million yuan, according to figures released by Shanghai Higher People's Court.

The city's courts will also work with the police to track down people who have defied court orders.