BEIJING: Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan has been sentenced to an additional four years in prison after documenting the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak from Wuhan.
Reporters Without Borders announced on Saturday that the 42-year-old received the sentence on Friday under China’s “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” charge.
This marks the same charge that led to her initial imprisonment in December 2020 after she posted first-hand accounts from the central city during the coronavirus spread.
China’s Foreign Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment on Sunday regarding the case.
Reuters could not determine whether the citizen-journalist had legal representation during these proceedings.
RSF Asia-Pacific advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakowska called Zhang an “information hero” who should be celebrated globally rather than trapped in brutal prison conditions.
Her statement emphasized the urgency for the international diplomatic community to pressure Beijing for Zhang’s immediate release.
Zhang was initially arrested after months of posting accounts including videos from crowded hospitals and empty streets that contradicted the official narrative.
Her lawyer at the time Ren Quanniu stated that Zhang believed she was being persecuted for exercising her freedom of speech.
Court documents seen by Reuters indicated she went on hunger strike the month after her arrest prompting police to strap her hands and force-feed her with a tube.
Zhang was released in May 2024 only to be detained again three months later before being formally arrested and placed in Shanghai’s Pudong Detention Center.
RSF stated that Friday’s sentencing followed Zhang’s reporting on China’s human rights abuses.
Her former lawyer Ren posted on X that the new charges were based on Zhang’s comments on overseas websites and she should not be deemed guilty.
Chinese authorities have never publicly specified what activities Zhang was charged for regarding the case.
Committee to Protect Journalists Asia-Pacific director Beh Lih Yi called the charges baseless and amounting to nothing more than persecution for journalism work.
RSF reports that China has the world’s largest prison for journalists with at least 124 media workers behind bars.
The nation ranked 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
China’s top lawmakers passed a bill to accelerate public health emergency responses just one week before Zhang’s latest sentencing. – Reuters
