Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist, has been held for more than six months in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area watchhouse on charges of “picking quarrels and causing trouble”. Zhang’s latest defense lawyer, Zhang Keke, issued a notice from Shanghai Pudong New Area Court confirming that his case will open at 9:30 am on December 28 and the trial will be scheduled for one day.
In the past, the Communist Party has also scheduled high-profile cases of human rights activists for around Christmas to take time off from foreign journalists and draw less attention to cases.
Lawyer Zhang Keke gave an interview to the BBC after meeting Zhang Earlier. He said Zhang refused to plead guilty and was on hunger strike in detention center and forced to eat with intubation, describing Zhang as weak.
On February 3 this year, Zhang visited an epidemic area in Wuhan and was arrested on May 14. The prosecutor’s indictment accused zhang zhan of “maliciously hyping up” the epidemic in wuhan by publishing a large amount of “false information” through WeChat, twitter, YouTube and other online platforms and giving interviews to foreign media.
Citing zhang’s “clear criminal facts and reliable evidence,” the prosecutor recommended a prison term of four to five years.
Zhang zhan, who was also detained last year on charges of provoking disorder by performing art in support of the anti-Pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, was released two months later.
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