Beijing – A Chinese court on Monday convicted a former lawyer who reported the initial phase of the coronavirus outbreak to four years in prison accused of “picking fights and causing trouble,” one of his lawyers said. The People’s Court in the new Pudong area of Shanghai’s financial center handed down the sentence to Zhang Zhan after allegations of spreading false information, interviewing foreign media, disturbing law and order and “maliciously manipulating” the outbreak. .
Lawyer Zhang Keke upheld the sentence, but said it was “uncomfortable” to provide details, usually an indication that the court has issued a partial gag order. He said the court did not ask Zhang if he would appeal or indicate if he would.
Zhang, 37, traveled to Wuhan in February and posted on various social media platforms about the outbreak that is believed to have erupted in the central Chinese city late last year.
She was arrested in May amid harsh national measures aimed at curbing the outbreak and strong censorship to deflect criticism of the government’s initial response. Zhang reportedly went on a prolonged hunger strike while in custody, prompting authorities to force him and he is said to be in poor health.
Earlier this month, a Zhang flower lawyer, who wished to remain anonymous, told CBS News that Zhang was detained 24 hours a day with a belt around her waist and both hands tied to prevent her from pulling a tube. food.
Chinese human rights defenders
The lawyer, who visited her at least twice, said she was experiencing headaches, dizziness and stomach and mouth pain due to the insertion of the gastric tube for forced feeding, and that Zhang told her that “every day is torture.”
Zhang is among several citizen journalists whose work offered some of the only insights into the outside world of what was happening in Wuhan in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, and which the Chinese government later arrested.
Citizen journalist Chen Qiushi disappeared in February almost at the same time as Li Zehua and Wuhan resident Fang Bin, who also reported the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Li Zehua was released in April.
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China has been accused of covering up the initial outbreak and delaying the release of crucial information, which allowed the virus to spread and contribute to the pandemic that plagued more than 80 million people worldwide and kill nearly 1.8 million. Beijing strongly denies the allegations, saying it took swift steps that gained time to prepare for the rest of the world.
The ruling Communist Party of China strictly controls the media and tries to block the dissemination of information it has not approved to make known.
In the early days of the outbreak, authorities reprimanded several Wuhan doctors for “false rumors” after alerting friends on social media. The best known of the doctors, Li Wenliang, later succumbed to COVID-19.
Separately, Agence France Presse reports that China has tried 10 of 12 pro-democracy activists who tried to escape Hong Kong by speedboat to the Taiwan shrine.
The U.S. has called for the immediate release of dissidents, it says, “fleeing tyranny.”
The ten of the so-called “Hong Kong 12” were in the courts of the southern city of Shenzhen. His boat was intercepted on August 23.