(Minghui.org) Minghui.org previously reported in May 2022 that a 51-year-old former police officer was sentenced to seven years for practicing Falun Gong. New information came to light in mid-September 2024 that Ms. Cheng Lianlian had actually been sentenced to eight years, with a 10,000-yuan fine.
Ms. Cheng was arrested on August 21, 2021, and indicted by the Hongan County Procuratorate three months later. The case was then forwarded to the Macheng City Court and later reassigned to the Huangguang City Intermediate Court, which handed down the eight-year sentence at an unknown date.
In China, intermediate courts are usually tasked with hearing appeals but occasionally handle initial trials too.
Ms. Cheng has been denied family visits since her arrest. Her loved ones only confirmed her prison sentence in mid-September 2024. She is likely still being held at the Huanggang City Women’s Detention Center at the time of writing.
Prior to her latest persecution, Ms. Cheng and her husband, Mr. Wang Yu, were repeatedly targeted for their shared faith in Falun Gong. Ms. Cheng lost her job as a police officer. The couple had to move from place to place to avoid being arrested and did odd jobs to make a living. Their 11-year-old son died in a car accident around 2010. The unimaginable loss on top of being persecuted for their faith drove Mr. Wang to a mental breakdown and he was checked into a psychiatric hospital in July 2015. Both Mr. Wang’s and Ms. Cheng’s parents were also implicated by the authorities, and their homes were raided multiples times over the years. (See the related report for details of the family’s ordeals.)
In addition to Ms. Cheng, three other practitioners were also arrested at around the same time in late August 2021. Ms. Zhang Guiying was released on bail in late June 2022 and Ms. Wu Suhua was released five months later. Ms. Lu Hongfang remained captive at the Huanggang City Women’s Prison. Minghui.org also confirmed their wrongful convictions in mid-September 2024. Ms. Lu was sentenced to four years and fined 5,000 yuan. Ms. Wu was given three years with four years probation and a 2,000-yuan fine. Ms. Zhang was given two years with three years probation and a 2,000-yuan fine.
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