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Zhang, a blogger sentenced on Monday, believes she will die in prison. That is, he will refuse to eat “until the end.”
As previously reported, blogger Zhang Zhan, 37, has been sentenced to four years in prison for her critical reports on the spread of the coronavirus in Wuhan. The verdict came in a brief court hearing on Monday in Shanghai, as announced by one of his lawyers. According to court documents seen by the AFP news agency, the woman had been accused of “stirring up disputes and causing discomfort” with her reports.
According to the lawsuit against Zhang Zhan, 37, he had published “a lot of fake news” about the situation in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan. The blogger also gave interviews to foreign media, from Radio Free Asia to The Epoch Times, in order to “maliciously incite” the Covid 19 situation in Wuhan.
Great response to your reports from Wuhan.
Former lawyer Zhang had reported on the authorities’ response to the new virus in live reports. In an essay published in February, he wrote that the authorities had not provided enough information to the population and had “cordoned off” the city. “This is a tremendous violation of human rights,” he wrote. His reports were widely responded to on online platforms in February.
Zhang was arrested in May. According to his lawyers, his health is “extremely bad”. Zhang went on a hunger strike in June.
Wants to “refuse to the end” food
Zhang appeared “upset” when the verdict was rendered, her lawyer Ren Quanniu told reporters after the trial ended. His mother sobbed aloud when the sentence was read. Zhang said he would die in prison, Ren said.
When he visited her last week, she said she would refuse to eat “until the end” if she received a severe sentence. “It is an extreme method of protest against this society and this world of life,” added the lawyer.
Another defense attorney, Zhang Keke, said his client was feeling “mentally drained.” Every day is “like torture” for the 37-year-old. You even need help going to the bathroom.
Stringent foreclosure and quarantine measures
In Wuhan, the corona virus was first detected in humans late last year. In a few weeks it spread massively in the metropolis. On January 23, authorities sealed Wuhan. In the following days, the measure was extended to the entire Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. From China, the virus spread around the world.
In China itself, however, the virus has been largely repulsed by rigorous isolation and quarantine measures. The country’s leadership has been hailing its fight against the virus as a great success story for months. Information about the pandemic is strictly censored.
Prosecution of Zhang as a show trial
Human rights groups view Zhang’s prosecution as a sham. The authorities wanted to use his case “to prevent other dissidents from asking questions about the pandemic situation in Wuhan this spring,” said Leo Lan of the China Human Rights Defenders organization.
In addition to Zhang, three other bloggers were arrested earlier this year for reporting on the situation in Wuhan. Zhang was the first to be tried. Attempts by the AFP news agency to contact the other three arrested so far have been unsuccessful.
