Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan’s case is set to go to trial later this month, amid concerns about her health.
According to Hong Kong media reports, Zhang Zhan’s lawyers have been notified that a court in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area will hear Zhang’s case on the 28th of this month.
Following the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Wuhan, China, late last year, Beijing was strongly condemned by international public opinion for its response failures and concealment of the outbreak. Wuhan declared a city closure on Jan. 23 of this year. A number of citizen journalists such as Zhang Zhan, Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua entered Wuhan in their personal capacity to report on what was really happening there.
Zhang Zhan entered Wuhan in February. She sent videos of what she saw and heard to the public through social media. She also wrote articles specifically to criticize the mistakes made by the government in response to the outbreak.
In May, Zhang was arrested on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and has been held in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area Detention Center. The authorities accused her of reporting “false information,” but Zhang said she visited communities, pharmacies and supermarkets in Wuhan, interviewed many people and reported real, first-hand information.
Her lawyer previously revealed that the detention center put her in shackles and restraint straps and fixed her hands in great pain. Zhang Zhan, 37, refused to plead guilty and began a hunger strike in June, when the detention center forced her to eat through a nose tube, the lawyer said.
Her lawyer Zhang Keke said Zhang is very weak and may not make it to the trial date. Zhang Keke said that despite repeated attempts to persuade her family and friends, Zhang Zhan still said she would not give up her hunger strike.
Citizen journalists such as Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua have also been missing for a long time, and sources say they are also being held by the authorities.
On Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, two of the world’s leading journalists’ organizations, released annual reports that ranked China first among the top five countries in the world for persecution of journalists. The report also mentions these citizen journalists and calls on Chinese authorities to release them as soon as possible.
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