she recounted what was happening in Wuhan when the epidemic started and she was sentenced to 4 years in prison

Chinese citizen journalist Zhang zhan was sentenced on Monday to four years in prison for “causing altercations and seeking trouble” because of her information on the first epidemic of coronavirus in Wuhan (central China), Hong Kong Apple Daily reported.

This newspaper, which quotes one of its lawyers, points out that Zhang refused to accept the charges, considering that his information – published by Chinese platforms such as WeChat and others banned in the country such as Twitter or YouTube- should not be censored.

According to Amnesty International (AI), his work in Wuhan focused on reporting arrests other independent journalists and harassment relatives of the victims of the coronavirus during what is considered the world’s first outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.

Organization Chinese human rights defenders (CHRD) noted in September that the woman was arrested for posting what Wuhan citizens received spoiled food during the eleven weeks of imprisonment that the city lived or were forced to pay the fees to be tested for the coronavirus.

The trial took place on Monday and in a court in the eastern city of Shanghai – where the accused has set up his residence – with a strong police presence and with the help only of his relatives.

Tube fed

Zhang, who was arrested at the end of May, went on a hunger strike in September which caused her the physical condition is “very weak”, according to her defense, who says the authorities are force-feeding her through a tube and they force him to wear chains.

Another lawyer revealed that Zhang, 37, intended to continue the hunger strike “even if he dies in prison” if the sentence is severe.

The prosecutor’s office requested a four to five year prison sentence for “repeatedly publishing a large number of false information“and accept the interviews with foreign media for “overdo it maliciously “the coronavirus situation in Wuhan.

Human rights organizations protested the decision: “The Chinese government a mock trial at Christmas when authorities want to reduce attention to these “sensitive” cases while diplomats and journalists are on vacation, “said Leo Lan, researcher at CHRD.

According to him, Zhang’s “harsh” sentence is “alarming” and is a sign that Beijing wants “to intimidate others so as not to draw attention to the pandemic situation in Wuhan at the start of the year”.

For her part, AI activist Gwen Lee said in a statement that “citizen journalists like Zhang Zhan were the main source, if not the only one, first-hand and uncensored information during the early days of covid-19, “and demanded that the regime” stop persecuting journalists and other citizens only to report the truth“.

Faded away

Other citizens who also told the news from Wuhan they disappeared or they were arrested this year, such as businessman Fan Bing, lawyer Chen Qiushi or young journalist Li Zehua, although the latter was released in April.

“Anyone who praises the Chinese government’s ‘success’ in containing the virus should take this into account. This is an integral part of the Communist Party of China model of pandemic control, ”Human Rights Watch (HRW) China researcher Yaqiu Wang said on Twitter.

In Wuhan, local authorities were slow to release some of the available information about the outbreak because, according to then-mayor Zhou Xianwang, they needed approval from higher authorities to do so.

EFE

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