Original Article By Anugrah Kumar
A Chinese Christian woman known internationally for documenting the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan has been sentenced to four more years in prison. She was convicted of the same offense for which she previously served a four-year term.
Zhang Zhan received her latest sentence last Friday from the Pudong New Area People’s Court in Shanghai on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.
The 42-year-old Christian and former lawyer had been detained the previous month in Shaanxi Province, where she was reportedly helping a young pro-democracy activist secure legal assistance, and was later transferred to a detention center in Shanghai.
Zhang had been released on May 13 after serving her first four-year prison term, which began in 2020 following her arrest for reporting from Wuhan during the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Amnesty International previously said she had been repeatedly summoned by police in the months before her re-arrest in August 2024. She was taken into custody on Aug. 28 and formally arrested in November on the same charge, according to The Guardian. Her indictment cited social media posts that prosecutors claimed “seriously damaged the country’s image,” and they recommended a sentence of four to five years.
Zhang’s communications with supporters were limited following her release.
Human rights groups said she had been under close surveillance, a common practice in China for individuals who had previously criticized the government. Prosecutors reportedly based the new charges on content Zhang posted to YouTube and X, including commentary on human rights violations.
Her initial arrest in May 2020 followed her travel to Wuhan in February that year, where she filmed hospitals, lockdown conditions and government restrictions. She shared 122 videos across several platforms, including X, YouTube and WeChat, documenting the excessive curtailment of people’s freedoms during lockdown.
An Editorial Board opinion piece in The Washington Post noted that her footage revealed deserted streets, overwhelmed hospitals and widespread confinement during the country’s strict zero-COVID phase.
Zhang began a hunger strike on Jan. 25 to protest her detention. She was reportedly force-fed while held at the Pudong Detention Centre.
During her earlier imprisonment, she had staged periodic hunger strikes in opposition to her conviction and conditions in custody.
International organizations have condemned her sentencing.
The U.N. Human Rights Office said it was “deeply disturbing” and raised concerns about the lack of transparency in her trial, noting that independent observers were barred from attending.
CSW President Mervyn Thomas called the charges “completely unfounded” and demanded Zhang’s release.
Reporters Without Borders labelled the case as persecution rather than a prosecution.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders argued that unrestricted reporting in the early days of the pandemic could have helped avert global harm.
Zhang, a native of Shaanxi Province, converted to Christianity in 2015 and began speaking publicly about human rights soon after.
In 2019, she was arrested in Shanghai for staging an anti-government protest. In an interview that year, she said she hoped for a way to resolve the “hostility between the people and the government.”
China’s Foreign Ministry responded to international criticism by stating that the case pertains to China’s judicial sovereignty and that “no external forces have the right to interfere.” A spokesperson added that Zhang’s “legitimate rights will be fully respected and protected.”
China holds 124 media workers in prison and ranks 178th out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index.
Be the first to comment