Beijing A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a former lawyer who reported on the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak to four years in prison on charges of “picking fights and causing problems”, one of her lawyers said. The Pudong New Area People’s Court in Shanghai’s financial center handed down the sentence to Zhang Zhan after accusations of spreading false information, interviewing foreign media, disrupting public order and maliciously manipulating the outbreak.
Attorney Zhang Keke upheld the sentence, but said it was “inconvenient” to provide details – usually an indication that the court had issued a partial gag order. He said the court did not ask Zhang if she was going to appeal, nor did she indicate if she would do so.
Zhang, 37, traveled to Wuhan in February and posted on various social media platforms about the outbreak that allegedly broke out in the central Chinese city late last year.
She was arrested in May amid harsh nationwide measures aimed at curbing the outbreak and heavy censorship to ward off criticism of the government’s initial response. Zhang reportedly had a long hunger strike while in detention, forcing the authorities to force-feed her, and is said to be in poor health.
Earlier this month, a lawyer, Zhang, who wished to remain anonymous, told CBS News that Zhang was tied 24 hours a day with a belt around her waist and both hands to prevent her from pulling out a feeding tube.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders
The lawyer, who has visited her at least twice, said she has headaches, dizziness and stomach and mouth pain due to the insertion of the gastric tube for forced feeding, and that Zhang told him: “every day is torture. “
Zhang is among several civilian journalists whose work offers the only glimpse into the outside world of what was going on in Wuhan in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – and which was later detained by the Chinese government.
Civilian journalist Chen Qiushi went missing in February around the same time as Li Zehua and Wuhan resident Fang Bin, both of whom also reported on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Li Zehua was released in April.
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China is accused of covering up the initial outbreak and delaying the release of important information that could have spread the virus and contributed to the pandemic that has affected more than 80 million people worldwide and killed nearly 1.8 million people. . Beijing strongly denies the allegations, saying it acted quickly which bought time for the rest of the world to prepare.
China’s ruling Communist Party controls the media strictly and seeks to stop the dissemination of information it has not approved for release.
In the early days of the outbreak, authorities reprimanded several Wuhan doctors over ‘rumors’ after warning friends on social media. The most famous of the doctors, Li Wenliang, later succumbed to COVID-19.
Separately, Agency France Presse reports that China has tried ten of 12 pro-democracy activists who tried to escape from a Hong Kong speedboat for a shrine in Taiwan.
The US has called for the immediate release of dissidents who they say have ‘fled tyranny’.
The ten of the so-called “Hong Kong 12” were in court in the city of Shenzhen. Their boat was intercepted on August 23rd.