Beijing – A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a former lawyer who reported the initial stage of the coronavirus outbreak to four years in prison on charges of “provoking fights and causing problems,” said one of his lawyers. The Pudong New Area People’s Court, in Shanghai’s financial center, handed the sentence to Zhang Zhan after accusations that she spread false information, gave interviews to foreign media, disturbed public order and “maliciously manipulated” the outbreak.
Lawyer Zhang Keke confirmed the sentence, but said it was “inconvenient” to provide details – usually an indication that the court has issued a partial silence order. He said the court did not ask Zhang if she would appeal, nor did she indicate whether she would.
Zhang, 37, traveled to Wuhan in February and posted on various social media platforms about the outbreak, which is believed to have surfaced in central China late last year.
She was arrested in May amid tough measures across the country to contain the outbreak and strong censorship to deflect criticism of the government’s initial response. Zhang reportedly went on a prolonged hunger strike while in detention, which prompted the authorities to forcefully feed her, and she was in poor health.
Earlier this month, lawyer Flor Zhang, who wished to remain anonymous, told CBS News that Zhang was arrested 24 hours a day with a belt around her waist and both hands tied to prevent her from pulling on a feeding tube.
Chinese human rights defenders
The lawyer, who visited her at least twice, said that she had headaches, dizziness and stomach and mouth pain due to the insertion of the gastric tube for forced feeding, and that Zhang said “every day is torture”.
Zhang is among several citizen journalists whose work offered some of the only glimpses to the outside world of what was going on in Wuhan in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic – and who were later arrested by the Chinese government.
Citizen journalist Chen Qiushi disappeared in February, about the same time as Li Zehua and Wuhan resident Fang Bin, who also reported on the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Li Zehua was released in April.
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China was accused of covering up the initial outbreak and delaying the release of crucial information, allowing the virus to spread and contributing to the pandemic that sickened more than 80 million people worldwide and killed nearly 1.8 million. Beijing vigorously denies the accusations, saying that swift action was needed to give the rest of the world time to prepare.
The Communist Party of China tightly controls the media and tries to block the spread of information it has not approved for disclosure.
In the early days of the outbreak, officials berated several doctors in Wuhan for “spreading rumors” after they alerted friends on social media. The best known of the doctors, Li Wenliang, later succumbed to COVID-19.
Separately, the France Presse Agency reports that China brought to trial 10 of the 12 pro-democracy activists who tried to escape Hong Kong by speedboat to take refuge in Taiwan.
The United States has called for the immediate release of dissidents who say they “flee tyranny”.
Ten of the so-called “12 in Hong Kong” were in court in the southern city of Shenzhen. Their boat was intercepted on August 23.