Five years ago, the (World Health Organization) declared the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Na, Chinese lawyer and journalist Zhang Zhan already documenting the crisis in the outbreak epicenter, with short videos on YouTube that showed crowded hospitals, scarcity of resources and impacts of the sanitary crisis.
The material released by Zhang, now 41, put her on the radar of Chinese authorities, resulting in her arrest in May 2020, accused of “provoking disturbances,” common imputation for critics of the regime.
In December 2020, she was sentenced to four years of detention. Today, while the world is recovering from the pandemic that killed more than seven million people, Zhang remains trapped.
Early in her sentence, during the health crisis, the journalist began a hunger strike, being forcibly fed by nasogastric probes for months. He kept the sentence, and Zhang was detention until May 2024, when his initial conviction came to an end.
The journalist’s release, however, was marked by uncertainties. She publicly reappeared just nine days after the official date of her release, visibly downcast, in a video with no reference to where she was. Three months later, he was again taken to prison for the same charge as 2020.
According to the organization Reporters Without Borders (), Zhang Zhan is currently detained at the Pudong Detention Center in Shanghai, on the grounds of “provoking fights and causing problems.” The organization states that it may face another five years in prison.
Since 2020, Zhang’s detention has generated international reactions. With the continuity of the sentence, RSF and Human Rights Watch () expressed concern and warned of the conditions faced by independent journalists in China. In 2024, the country ranked 172nd between 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index.
In 2021, with minimal food and rudimentary health care, violating human rights. At the time, the 1.77 meter high journalist weighed less than 40 pounds. “Unjust sentences against activists in China often result in death,” they said.
Other cases of detention from journalists who covered the pandemic in Wuhan occurred in the same period. Zhang Zhan’s situation is still monitored by international organizations, which also accompany the conditions of press freedom in the country.
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