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Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old former lawyer and citizen journalist who was arrested in May while reporting from Wuhan, was sentenced to four years in jail.
Zhang was arrested for “sparking fights and causing trouble,” a charge commonly used against dissidents, activists and journalists, with her videos and blog reports on the Wuhan closure. Last month, she was accused of spreading false information.
On Monday afternoon, a few hours after the trial began, Zhang’s lawyer said that she had been sentenced to four years in jail.
The prosecution of 10 Hong Kongers detained in mainland China after allegedly trying to flee to Taiwan also began on Monday, amid a crackdown apparently timed to the Christmas period to avoid Western scrutiny.
The indictment sheet published last week said that Zhang had sent “false information through text, video and other means through Internet media such as WeChat, Twitter and YouTube.”
“He also accepted interviews from foreign media Free Radio Asia and The Epoch Times and maliciously speculated on the Wuhan Covid-19 epidemic,” he said. A sentence of four to five years was recommended.
After the hearing, Zhang’s lawyer, Zhang Keke, said that Zhang appeared in court in a wheelchair and that his mother burst into tears when the verdict was announced.
Zhang has been restrained 24 hours a day and force-fed with a tube after she went on a hunger strike, Zhang Keke said earlier this month. Zhang Keke visited him again on Christmas Day, and in a blog post he said that his client had lost 15 to 20 kg and cut his hair.
“She feels psychologically drained, as if every day is a torment.”
Local media reported a heavy police presence outside the Shanghai Pudong courthouse on Monday. pushing journalists and observers away from the entrance when Zhang arrived. Foreign diplomats were reportedly among the supporters at the scene.
Zhang denied the charges, saying that all his reports on the response to the outbreak were based on first-hand accounts from locals. His video reports often criticized secrecy and censorship.
“Ordinary people who casually say something on WeChat could be summoned and reprimanded,” he said in a report. “Because everything is undercover, this is the problem facing this country now.”
In others, he accused authorities of violating people’s basic rights and called for the release of other citizen journalists who had been arrested for reporting from Wuhan.
Among at least half a dozen citizen journalists attacked in Wuhan, Fang Bin was arrested in February, but his place of detention remains secret. Chen Mei and Cai Wei are awaiting trial in Beijing after they were arrested in April for filing censored information about the virus. Chen Qiushi, detained in Wuhan in February, was released at his parents’ home under close surveillance.
Also on Monday, the trial began for 10 Hong Kong residents who were detained after allegedly trying to reach Taiwan by boat in August. The group is accused of organizing or participating in an illegal border crossing. Two other members are minors and will be tried on another date.
The families said they were only informed of the trial on Friday, too late to travel to Shenzhen and complete the quarantine in time to attend. The trial is not being broadcast and the media appears unable to enter the courtroom, making it a de facto secret trial, they said. Since their arrest, detainees have been almost completely cut off from contact with families and banned from seeing chosen lawyers.
“By holding the trial of the 12 in secret, banning the attendance of the media and families, the Chinese authorities are disregarding basic human rights, acting against the principle of ‘luminous judicial power’ that they have been promoting, “they said in a statement Monday. .
RTHK reported from Shenzhen that court officials said the trial was open to the public, but all seats had already been reserved. Chu Hoi-dick, a former Hong Kong legislator who has been helping families, told RTHK that all 10 defendants were expected to plead guilty.
Before the trial, the US State Department called for the group’s release, and one official said their only “alleged crime” was “fleeing tyranny.”
China’s notoriously opaque justice system has a conviction rate of around 99%, and defendants are often denied full legal assistance. The last-minute trials of the Hong Kong and Zhang 12 came amid a lot of activity by the Chinese authorities, who have a history of using the holiday period, when many Western governments and NGOs are on Christmas holidays. , to carry out trials and make arrests.
In December alone, authorities arrested a Bloomberg journalist, Haze Fan, on unspecified national security charges; the human rights activist, Ou Biaofen, after revealing the case of an activist sent to a psychiatric center; and the documentary journalist Du Bin. Ou and Du were arrested for “causing fights and causing trouble.”
The authorities also reportedly delayed the trial of Australian writer Yang Henjun, accused of espionage and allegedly tortured during his two years in detention. On Sunday, a court refused to hear an appeal against the four-year sentence imposed on human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, who publicly called for constitutional reforms that include multi-candidate elections.
“The large number of arrests of those who speak will only further impede the flow of information about the situation in China,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Yaqiu Wang. “Governments around the world should pressure Beijing to release immediately. unjustly detained journalists and activists. “
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