Lei Fengchun (雷凤春), born July 14, 1958 in Shenyang, is a rights defender and petitioner serving a three-year, three-month sentence after being convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in connection with his long-running petitions.
Lei was formerly a police officer in the prison-administration section of Kangjiashan Prison in Shenyang. According to the independent outlet Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch (民生观察), he reported a prison leader for soliciting bribes and was dismissed from his post in 1999; his personnel arbitration was rejected, and he began petitioning in Beijing in 2008. He had previously been sentenced in December 2021 to one year and six months for the same charge and was released in June 2022.
In January 2024, police intercepted him in Beijing and brought him back to Shenyang. He was criminally detained on January 19, 2024, on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and his arrest was approved on February 23. His case moved through the Tiexi District procuratorate and court; his lawyer’s bail application was rejected. After a one-day trial on October 25, 2024, the Tiexi District Court sentenced him on February 12, 2025, with the verdict delivered inside the detention center. His sentence runs to April 17, 2027. He filed an appeal through his lawyer in February 2025; no appeal outcome has been reported.
The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China documented his case in the “Access to Justice” chapter of its 2024 annual report as an example of how authorities use criminal prosecution — and the broad “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” charge — against petitioners seeking redress for grievances.
Status note: The detention, charge, trial, sentence, and appeal are documented by Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch; the detention and charge were also cited by the CECC. The charge was the police’s suspicion at detention; the February 2025 conviction is a court judgment reported by the outlet, not an independently verified court document.
Identity note: A mathematician named Lei Fengchun at the Dalian University of Technology is a different person and is not associated with this case.
Sources: Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch case series (seven reports, March 2024–February 2025, plus a 2015 detention record); U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 2024 Annual Report, “Access to Justice” chapter.
Media and documentation archive: Media and documentation archive for Lei Fengchun (雷凤春)