(Minghui.org) Minghui.org previously reported that a 59-year-old man in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, was admitted to the Guangzhou Prison to serve an unknown term for his faith in Falun Gong.
New information has emerged that the Liwan District Court in Guangzhou sentenced Mr. Cheng Lei to seven and a half years on September 16, 2026. He is appealing the wrongful conviction.
Mr. Cheng was arrested at work on October 29, 2025, by a large number of officers from Conghua District Police Department in Guangzhou City. An insider revealed that the police had been monitoring him for a long time after discovering he used some phone and laptop apps to study Falun Gong teachings together with other practitioners.
During the physical exam required for detention, he was found to have severe heart conditions and had a stent put in at the police hospital. Even before he recovered from the surgery, the police took him to the Guangzhou Prison.
This is not the first time that Mr. Cheng has been targeted for his faith. While he was still living in Shulan City, Jilin Province, he served a 1.5-year forced labor term between 2000 and 2001, and a four-year prison term from 2001 to 2005. After he moved to Guangdong Province, he was arrested in June 2012 and sentenced to three years and nine months. He was released in March 2016, only to be arrested again in October 2025 and given another 7.5 years.