Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Covid reporting in Wuhan finally set to be released

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/china-covid-wuhan-journalist-release-b2543637.html

Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Covid reporting in Wuhan finally set to be released
She was arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to four years in prison for ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’
Vishwam Sankaran
10 hours ago

​Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was jailed for her reporting from Wuhan in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, is set to be released after four years.

The lawyer-turned-citizen journalist was in Wuhan in February 2020 to document the Chinese government’s efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus at the start of what was to become a global pandemic.

She spoke about the Chinese government’s efforts to censor criticism against its response to the pandemic on several social media platforms, including YouTube, WeChat, and X – formerly Twitter.

“After 4 years in prison for her independent reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic, journalist Zhang Zhan is due for release on 13 May,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shared on X.

China has faced accusations of delaying the release of crucial information during the initial outbreak and attempting to cover up the situation, actions that are believed to have facilitated the virus’s spread to pandemic proportions.

Ms Zhang was arrested in May 2020 and subsequently convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, resulting in a four-year prison sentence. Since then, she has remained incarcerated at Shanghai women’s prison.​..

 

[Pathfinder]

A citizen journalist imprisoned for ‘provoking trouble’ by reporting on COVID in China is released

BY HUIZHONG WU
Updated 1:07 AM CST, May 22, 2024

BANGKOK (AP) — Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist, was released from prison after serving four years for charges related to reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, according to a video statement she released Tuesday, eight days after her sentence ended, though there are concerns about how much freedom of movement she has.

Zhang was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a vaguely defined charge often used in political cases, and served her full term. Yet, on the day of her release, her former lawyers could not reach her or her family. Shanghai police had paid visits to activists and her former lawyers in the days leading up to her release.
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Zhang was among a handful of citizen journalists who traveled to the central Chinese city of Wuhan after the government put it under total lockdown in February 2020, in the early days of the pandemic. She walked around the city to document public life as fears grew about the novel coronavirus.
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https://apnews.com/article/zhang-zhan-freed-covid-reporting-wuhan-52aacbbea65df93b77caaabfc9f9e5b4​