Zhang Zhan

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Zhang Zhan ( Chinese 張 展 / 张 展, Pinyin Zhāng Zhǎn ; born on September 2, 1983 in Xianyang , Shaanxi ) is a Chinese citizen journalist , blogger and former lawyer who was reportedly tortured and in December 2020 for reporting on the COVID 19 pandemic in Wuhan was sentenced to four years in prison. She is the first female journalist to be convicted of the pandemic in China for her citizen journalism.

Life

Zhang studied Financial Sciences at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics . She worked as a lawyer and moved to Shanghai from Shaanxi Province in 2010 . She later returned her bar license. In September 2019, she protested in Shanghai for Hong Kong and an end to the rule of the Chinese Communist Party . She was arrested, went on a hunger strike, and was released after 65 days. At the beginning of February 2020, she traveled from Shanghai to Wuhan as an independent journalist to report on the COVID-19 pandemic there. She documented overcrowded hospitals, empty shops, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, crematoriums, the detention of other independent journalists, and the harassment of families of pandemic victims who tried to answer in live streams and essays. Zhang said the crematoria in Wuhan ran day and night while Chinese state media claimed the pandemic was under control. Zhang's coverage was on YouTube and Twitter , which are blocked in China but accessible via foreign VPNs .

Citizen journalists have been one of the few sources of unfiltered information about the pandemic in China, but very few exist as they are not accredited.

The Chinese Human Rights Defenders Network, a Chinese human rights group, reported that Zhang went missing on May 14, 2020. It was later announced that she had been arrested by the police and transported back to Shanghai. She was detained without charge until the end of June. Zhang is one of several journalists including Li Zehua, Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin who went missing at the same time.

Zhang was reportedly tortured for three months before she was sentenced. She was handcuffed 24 hours a day all the time. She has been on hunger strike since September 2020 and is force-fed through a gastric tube . Her hands are cuffed to prevent her from removing them.

Her lawyer, Ren Quanniu, described her as very weak: “In addition to headache, dizziness, and stomach ache, there was also pain in the mouth and throat. She said it could be inflammation from inserting a tube into the stomach. "

She was accused of engaging in disputes and provoking trouble; a charge the Chinese government often uses to arrest opponents and sentenced to four years in prison. Zhang was accused of telling and spreading malicious suspicions about the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan to overseas media outlets, Radio Free Asia and The Epoch Times . The process took less than three hours. Supporters and a British diplomat were unable to enter the courtroom during the trial. She was sentenced to four years in prison by a Shanghai court. This makes her the first female journalist to be convicted of reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic in China . She is represented by several lawyers, including Ren Quanniu and Zhang Keke.

The British Embassy in Beijing said her case "raises serious concerns about media freedom in China" and she is "one of at least 47 journalists currently detained in China. The whereabouts of other citizen journalists - including Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin - are unknown. ”On December 29, 2020, the EU demanded that she be released immediately.

Zhang is a professed Christian .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 分類: Zhang Zhan 張 展, hkanews, November 18, 2020
  2. ↑ a b c Nectar Gan and James Griffiths CNN: Chinese journalist who documented Wuhan coronavirus outbreak jailed for 4 years . Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  3. ↑ Journalist in China convicted of corona reports. SPON, December 28, 2020 (accessed December 30, 2020)
  4. ↑ Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan Refuses to Plead Guilty Continues Hunger Strike , todaychina.cc, December 6, 2020
  5. ↑ a b c Wuhan Citizen Journalist Formally Arrested, Held in Shanghai Detention Center ( en ) Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Zhang Zhan: China jails citizen journalist for Wuhan reports (en-GB) . In: BBC News , December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. 
  7. ↑ Reuters Staff: China jails citizen-journalist for four years over Wuhan virus reporting (en) . In: Reuters , December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. 
  8. ↑ Taiwan News: Chinese journalist prosecuted for reporting on Wuhan outbreak | Taiwan News | 2020/06/24 . Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  9. ↑ Detention because of reports from Wuhan: The woman who unmasked China , taz.de, December 28, 2020
  10. ↑ a b Covid-19 journalist tortured for exposing truth . Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  11. ^ Reports about Corona in Wuhan: Citizen journalist accused in China , tagesschau.de , June 25, 2020
  12. ↑ Vivian Wang: She Chronicled China's Crisis. Now She Is Accused of Spreading Lies. (en-US) . In: The New York Times , December 26, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. 
  13. ↑ Editorial Board: Opinion | What is China trying to hide about the coronavirus? (en-US) . In: Washington Post . Retrieved December 29, 2020. 
  14. ↑ Wuhan Citizen Journalist Formally Arrested, Held in Shanghai Detention Center ( en ) Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  15. ↑ Torture methods in the People's Republic of China ( en-US ). Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  16. ↑ a b Citizen journalist detained over Wuhan reporting 'restrained and fed by tube' ( en ) December 10, 2020. Accessed December 29, 2020.
  17. ↑ China: Fears for health of Christian activist on hunger strike in detention . Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  18. ↑ China: Four years imprisonment for Corona blogger , tagesschau.de , December 28, 2020
  19. ↑ a b Helen Davidson: Citizen journalist facing jail in China for Wuhan Covid reporting (en-GB) . In: The Guardian , November 16, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. 
  20. ↑ Grace Qi: Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan sentenced for reporting early on COVID in Wuhan .
  21. ↑ Chinese court jails citizen journalist Zhang Zhan for Wuhan reports ( en ) Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ Vivian Wang: Chinese Citizen Journalist Sentenced to 4 Years for Covid Reporting (en-US) . In: The New York Times , December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020. 
  23. ↑ China jails citizen journalist for four years over Wuhan coronavirus reports ( en ) December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  24. ↑ Julio Cachila Dec 28, 2020 11:27 am Est: Zhang Zhan: Christian Citizen Journalist Sentenced To Four Years In Prison For Wuhan Virus Reports . In: Christianity Daily . December 28, 2020. Accessed December 29, 2020.
  25. ↑ Zhang Zhan reported from Wuhan: EU demands the immediate release of Chinese journalist , t-online.de , December 29, 2020
  26. ↑ Julio Cachila Dec 28, 2020 11:27 am Est: Zhang Zhan: Christian Citizen Journalist Sentenced To Four Years In Prison For Wuhan Virus Reports . December 28, 2020. Accessed December 29, 2020.
  27. ↑ China: Fears for health of Christian activist on hunger strike in detention . Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  28. ↑ 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 ( zh-Hant-TW ) Retrieved December 29, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Zhang, Zhan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese citizen journalist, blogger and former lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd September 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH Xianyang , Shaanxi
Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zhang is the family name here, Zhan is the first name.