China set to release lawyer who exposed COVID-19 in Wuhan after four years in prison

Chinese authorities on Monday were set to free a citizen journalist jailed for four years after documenting the early phases of the coronavirus outbreak in the central city of Wuhan in 2020.

Zhang Zhan, 40, had traveled to Wuhan in early 2020 from Shanghai where she was based, publishing first-hand accounts of crowded hospitals and empty streets that painted a grimmer picture of the pandemic than the official narrative.

After several months of reporting including videos, she was arrested in May 2020. She began a hunger strike in late June, according to court documents seen by Reuters, prompting police to tie her hands and force-feed her with a tube, his lawyers said. at the time.

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In December 2020, she was convicted by a Shanghai court of “picking quarrels and causing trouble” and sentenced to four years in prison.

An indictment for Zhang, released by human rights activists, said she would be released on Monday. One of her lawyers, Zhang Keke, told Reuters, however, that he could not yet confirm whether she had been released.

“Zhang Zhan's relatives and family have not responded to me yet,” he said.

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters he had no “relevant information” on the matter.

Jane Wang, a UK-based campaigner in favor of Zhang Zhan's release, said Zhang's family had faced enormous pressure from authorities and were warned not to speak to the media.

“It is completely unacceptable that the Chinese government subjects many human rights defenders and their families to this kind of cruelty. Even after their release from prison, they are still deprived of their basic rights,” Wang told Reuters.

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Zhang Zhan's health seriously deteriorated in prison, and she was admitted to a prison hospital in mid-2023, according to rights groups.

The U.S. State Department condemned what it called a “sham prosecution” against Zhang and repeatedly called for his release.

Hailed as a hero by many ordinary Chinese for chronicling the coronavirus crisis amid an initial lack of information, her case also attracted international attention as the virus spread rapidly across the world from the epicenter of Wuhan.

Chinese authorities have dealt harshly with Zhang and other critics of its coronavirus policies. Another COVID whistleblower, Fang Bin, was imprisoned for three years before being released last year, according to media reports.

“Even though people who have just been released are usually under strict supervision and this process is even more painful than in prison, I still hope that she (Zhang) can get the freedom she deserves,” he said. writes one of his supporters on X.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zhang Zhan Jailed 4 Years for Blatant Reports on Wuhan During Covid-19