Refer Report

Zhang Zhan (41), a Chinese citizen journalist who reported the real situation in Wuhan, China during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, was imprisoned again three months after his release, Youkwonmang reported.

According to the website Youquanwang, which reports on human rights issues in China, on the 4th, Zhang was arrested by police in his hometown of Shaanxi Province while traveling to and from Gansu Province to support recently detained human rights activists, and was imprisoned in the Shanghai Pudong Detention Center.

“We have confirmed that Mr. Jang has been detained through various sources,” Yukwonmang said, adding, “It is still unclear whether he is being detained criminally or administratively.”

Mr. Zhang, a lawyer who worked in Shanghai’s financial sector, quit his job as a lawyer and worked as a citizen journalist after receiving threats from the authorities for posting articles criticizing social issues online. During the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill protests, he posted articles and videos online in support of Hong Kong citizens, and had previously been under police surveillance for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party’s abuse of power.

In February 2020, Jang visited Wuhan, where the COVID-19 outbreak first broke out, and reported on the local situation and the Chinese government’s response on YouTube, WeChat, and Twitter. He was one of the few independent reporters on the scene when Wuhan was locked down.

“I have nothing to say except that everything is blocked and the city is paralyzed,” he said in one video at the time. “They are locking us up and restricting our freedom under the pretext of preventing the spread of infectious diseases.” Another video showed hospital corridors filled with beds filled with patients.

Zhang was arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to four years in prison in December of the same year for “public disturbance” and served her sentence in Shanghai Women’s Prison. Public disturbance is a charge often applied to dissidents. The court ruled that Zhang distorted the COVID-19 situation and spread false information. In the first year of his imprisonment, he went on a hunger strike to protest his conviction and treatment, losing weight from 75 kg to 41 kg.

Mr. Zhang was released after serving his sentence in May, but was reportedly placed under surveillance by the authorities. A video circulated among human rights groups shows police escorting him to his home in Shanghai at 5 a.m. on the day of his release.

Source: Korean