On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, four mainland citizen journalists arrested by the Chinese Communist Party for investigating the Wuhan epidemic came under scrutiny. (Top right: Zhang Zhan; bottom left: Li Zehua; bottom center: Fang Bin; bottom right: Chen Qiushi. (Top left: Dr. Li Wenliang, the whistle blower of the Wuhan epidemic.
On May 3, the United Nations World Press Freedom Day, there was widespread concern about the four citizen journalists arrested by the Chinese Communist Party for reporting on the Wuhan epidemic, some of whom were sentenced to prison, others whose lives are unknown, and others whose personal freedom remains restricted.
Zhang Zhan, Fang Bin, Chen Qiushi, and Li Zeh Hua, all four citizen journalists who traveled to Wuhan, the birthplace of the CCP virus (New Crown Pneumonia), in 2020 to report independently and upload related videos, have lost their personal freedom.
The U.S. Department of State’s Annual Human Rights Report 2020, released in April of this year, focused specifically on these citizen journalists.
Zhang Zhan, the first citizen journalist arrested for investigating the outbreak
Zhang Zhan was arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to four years in prison on December 28 of that year for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and was rumored to have been transferred to Shanghai Women’s Prison in late February of this year. Zhang is the first journalist on the mainland to be sentenced for investigating the epidemic.
On May 3, Deutsche Welle quoted sources as saying that Zhang’s mother wanted to visit and correspond with him, but was refused by the prison for various reasons; his lawyer last visited him at the end of January this year, when he was on a semi- hunger strike.
Before his arrest, Zhang Zhan visited the police station where Dr. Li Wenliang was admonished; interviewed citizens on the streets of Wuhan; interviewed at a Wuhan chokepoint and was threatened by police; and visited the funeral home and Wuhan Virus Research Institute.
Zhang Zhan was interviewed by the Epoch Times, and she said, “I think there are really a lot of people in China who are living under misery. Being in Wuhan and going through this suffering with the people of Wuhan is a kind of spiritual comfort for many people.” (Click here to see a video of the interview)
On January 20 of this year, Global Affairs Canada issued a statement signed with 14 Media Freedom Coalition countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, calling for a joint appeal to express concern about Zhang Zhan’s unfair arrest and conviction.
In a tweet dated March 26, 2020, Zhang Zhan wrote, “I had thought that there were always people in this country (China) who could escape the system and not have their lives and souls crushed by fate and the years. Someone is always the lucky one, and I would love to be that lucky one. This socialist system trips up the destiny of all people. It is impossible for all people to escape, but people are just maintaining the appearance of brightness and glamour. Inside, to use Eileen Chang’s metaphor, are all lice.”
Fang Bin, the only person whose whereabouts are still unknown
Fang Bin was arrested by Wuhan police on Feb. 10, 2020, and has not been heard from since, the only one of the four arrested citizen journalists whose whereabouts are unknown. Deutsche Welle quoted sources as saying that Fang Bin’s family has refused to meet with his friends and does not know if he has a lawyer.
Radio Free Asia quoted an anonymous Wuhan source as saying on March 8: “His family told us that Mr. Fang Bin is under their (public security) control and that they were going to charge him with inciting subversion of state power at the beginning, but they have delayed until now and have not given the family any legal formalities. Recently, they told the family that they were going to change the charge to provocation and nuisance. They said the crime of provocation and nuisance is a little bit lighter.”
The anonymous source said, “We also hope that the international community will pay more attention to Mr. Fang Bin, because he was the first to warn the international community of the tragic extent of the epidemic, that is, he entered a hospital with three bodies at the entrance, and came out of the hospital with eight bodies in the funeral car at the entrance, and one body in the emergency room that had not been carried out, and a family and doctors all waiting to remove the tubes. Within five minutes a hospital dead 10 people.”
Before his arrest, Fang Bin publicly stated on his YouTube channel that Wuhan pneumonia (the CCP virus) was not only a natural disaster, but a man-made one; the cruelty of the virus was far worse than the cruelty of the CCP tyranny.
Chen Qiushi, still under restriction of personal freedom
Chen Qiushi, a former lawyer, was taken away by the CCP police on February 6, 2020, while documenting the epidemic in Wuhan, and has been out of contact ever since.
On March 29 this year, Xu Xiaodong, a mainland netizen who is familiar with Chen Qiushi’s situation, said on his YouTube channel that Chen Qiushi lives with his parents in Qingdao and is in good health, but his area of movement is restricted and he is able to access the Internet, but cannot speak out. (Click here to see related video)
Chen Qiushi has posted several videos of the Wuhan epidemic on his YouTube channel – documenting the streets of Wuhan after the city was closed; filming interviews at the Vulcan Mountain Hospital site and Fangbin Hospital; documenting the shortage of medical supplies and the emergency situation at Wuhan Hospital; and disclosing the scene of Fangbin’s harassment.
Before his arrest, Chen Qiushi had said in the video, “I won’t even film my death, am I afraid of you Communists?”
Li Zehua, who has not updated his self-publishing for more than a year, is unknown
Li Zehwa was a former host of CCTV-7, then resigned to create a self-publishing outlet. He traveled to Wuhan in mid-February 2020 for independent reporting and was lost in Wuhan on February 26.
On April 22 of the same year, Li Zehwa posted a video on his YouTube channel, stating that he was taken by the CCP police to the Bajia police station in Qingshan District, Wuhan City, on February 26 for “suspicion of disturbing public order” and was questioned and given a statement until the following night; subsequently, Li was confiscated of all electronic devices and forcibly isolated. After that, Li Zehwa was confiscated all electronic devices and was forcibly isolated, and returned home after the isolation.
Since then, Li Zehwa has not updated his YouTube channel.
Before his disappearance, Li Zehwa visited the Baibuting community in Wuhan (the community committee held the “Baibuting Wanjia Banquet” on January 18, 2020, which was followed by an outbreak of an epidemic in the community), the funeral home, Wuchang Railway Station, and the P4 laboratory, and posted live videos several times.
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