(Minghui.org) A Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province resident who was rescently sentenced to four years in prison for practicing Falun Gong, has appealed and is currently waiting for the hearing.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.

Mr. Cai Qing, 38, a senior engineer, was arrested on June 30, 2019 in Nanning, Guangxi Province by joint police forces from Guangdong and Guangxi Province. Mr. Cai was returned to Shaoguan, and has since been held at the Wujiang District Detention Center.

While it’s not clear why he traveled to Nanning, it was suspected that the police found him through China’s massive surveillance network and facial recognition technology. He was put on the police blacklist after he filed a criminal complaint in 2015 against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime, for ordering the persecution of Falun Gong.

Mr. Cai’s Falun Gong books, cellphones, and computer were confiscated. The Falun Gong-related materials in his computer, including software he used to break through China’s Internet firewall, were used as prosecution evidence against him.

The police told him that he would only be sentenced to one half or one year if he pleaded guilty. Mr. Cai refused to comply and was sentenced to a four-year term by the Qujiang District Court on December 30, 2019, with a 10,000 yuan fine.