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|---|---|
| Born | (1983-09-02) 2 September 1983 (age 41) |
| Occupation | Citizen journalist |
| Subjects | COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China |
Zhang Zhan (simplified Chinese: 张展; traditional Chinese: 張展; pinyin: Zhāng Zhǎn; born 2 September 1983) is a Chinese journalist and former lawyer who was allegedly tortured and sentenced to four years in prison for her reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic. She is the first journalist to be sentenced for reporting the pandemic in China.
Journalism
Zhan is an independent journalist who travelled from Shanghai to Wuhan to cover the COVID-19 pandemic there. She documented overflowing hospitals, empty shops, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, crematoria, the detention of other independent journalists and harassment of families of victims of the pandemic seeking accountability in livestreams and essays. According to Zhang, crematoria in Wuhan were running day and night, during a time when state media claimed that the pandemic was under control.
Citizen journalists have been one of the only sources of unfiltered information about the pandemic in China, however there are very few due to lack of accreditation for them.
Arrest
The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a Chinese human rights group recorded that Zhang went missing on the 14th of May 2020, later it was revealed she was detained by police and transported back to Shanghai. She was imprisoned without charge until November. Zhan is one of several journalists including Li Zehua, Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin who went missing at the same time.
Torture allegations
Zhang was allegedly tortured for three months before sentencing, kept in handcuffs 24 hours a day for the entire time. Zhan has been on hunger strike since September 2020 and is being force fed through a feeding tube, her hands are tied to prevent her from removing it.
Impact of torture
She has been described by her lawyer Ren Quanniu as very weak, "In addition to headache, dizziness and stomach pain, there was also pain in her mouth and throat. She said this may be inflammation due to the insertion of a gastric tube."
Trial and sentencing
She was charged with picking quarrels and provoking trouble, a charge the Chinese government often uses to imprison opponents and sentenced to four years in prison. The indictment sheet accused Zhang of talking to foreign media such as Radio Free Asia and The Epoch Times, and spreading false information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. Supporters and a British diplomat were blocked from entering the courtroom during the trial which lasted less that three hours in total. She has been sentenced by a Shanghai court to four years imprisonment making her the first journalist to be sentenced for reporting the pandemic in China.. She is represented by several lawyers including Ren Quanniu and Zhang Keke.
Reactions
The British Embassy in Beijing said her case "raises serious concerns about media freedom in China" and that she "is one of at least 47 journalists currently in detention in China. The whereabouts of other citizen journalists -- including Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin -- is unknown."
Personal life
Zhang is a practicing Christian with "a strong tendency towards martyrdom".
External links
References
- ^ CNN, Nectar Gan and James Griffiths. "Chinese journalist who documented Wuhan coronavirus outbreak jailed for 4 years". CNN. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Zhang Zhan: China jails citizen journalist for Wuhan reports". BBC News. 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- Staff, Reuters (2020-12-28). "China jails citizen-journalist for four years over Wuhan virus reporting". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
{{cite news}}:|first=has generic name (help) - News, Taiwan. "Chinese journalist prosecuted for reporting on Wuhan outbreak | Taiwan News | 2020/06/24". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Covid-19 journalist tortured for exposing truth". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- Wang, Vivian (2020-12-26). "She Chronicled China's Crisis. Now She Is Accused of Spreading Lies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- Board, Editorial. "Opinion | What is China trying to hide about the coronavirus?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- "Torture methods in the People's Republic of China". Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- ^ "Citizen journalist detained over Wuhan reporting 'restrained and fed by tube'". the Guardian. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- ^ Davidson, Helen (2020-11-16). "Citizen journalist facing jail in China for Wuhan Covid reporting". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- Qi, Grace. "Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan sentenced for reporting early on COVID in Wuhan". CBS News.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Chinese court jails citizen journalist Zhang Zhan for Wuhan reports". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- Wang, Vivian (2020-12-28). "Chinese Citizen Journalist Sentenced to 4 Years for Covid Reporting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- "China jails citizen journalist for four years over Wuhan coronavirus reports". South China Morning Post. 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- Dec 28, Julio Cachila; Est, 2020 11:27 Am (2020-12-28). "Zhang Zhan: Christian Citizen Journalist Sentenced To Four Years In Prison For Wuhan Virus Reports". Christianity Daily. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - "China: Fears for health of Christian activist on hunger strike in detention". www.csw.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- "Wuhan Citizen Journalist Formally Arrested, Held in Shanghai Detention Center". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
- "中國公民記者張展報導武漢疫情遭拘捕 絕食抗爭拒認罪 | 兩岸 | 重點新聞 | 中央社 CNA". www.cna.com.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 2020-12-29.