Chinese Journalist and Lawyer Sentenced 4 Years in Prison for Covering COVID19 Outbreak in Wuhan
Reposted from Westfalia Times, authored by Marie Oakes, December 28, 2020
Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist and a former lawyer was sentenced by a Chinese court for four years for reporting in Wuhan during the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Zhang Zhan has been held by authorities since May and was sentenced on Monday, December 28, for allegedly “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” during the initial stages of the outbreak in Wuhan with her reporting.
Chinese citizen journalist faces trial for Wuhan virus reporting.
Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, could face up to five years in jail if convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for her reportinghttps://t.co/WIBQdjlwMb
📸 @hectorretamal pic.twitter.com/5A9VnCDz9K
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 28, 2020
During her reports at the beginning of the outbreak in Wuhan, Zhan criticized the government’s handling and the response to the outbreak.
During her reporting of the outbreak, she shared videos of crowded hospitals and the realities of what the outbreak looked like in Wuhan.
In one of her videos, she said “The government’s way of managing this city has just been intimidation and threats,”
Yahoo News reports that the Chinese Communist Party authorities “have a history of putting dissidents on trial in opaque courts between Christmas and New Year to minimise Western scrutiny.”
Diplomats from countries including the U.K. were barred from attending the hearing, and two foreign journalists were detained by police (one was released earlier). This man from Nippon TV was dragged away for simply trying to film police vans leaving the court pic.twitter.com/8Jgo61DS9b
— Laurie Chen (@lauriechenwords) December 28, 2020