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BEIJING: A Chinese citizen journalist detained since May for her live broadcast from Wuhan when the COVID-19 outbreak broke out was scheduled for trial on Monday (December 28), nearly a year after details of a “viral pneumonia emerged. unknown “in the central city of China. .
Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, could face up to five years in prison if convicted of “sparking disputes and causing trouble” for her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak.
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His reports and live essays were widely shared on social media platforms in February, drawing the attention of authorities, who have punished eight virus whistleblowers as they defend criticism of the government’s response to the outbreak.
About a dozen supporters and diplomats gathered in front of Shanghai’s Pudong New District People’s Court on Monday morning, but the police pushed journalists and observers away from the entrance when the defendant and her lawyer arrived.
Zhang, 37, went on a hunger strike in June, according to her lawyers, and has been force-fed through a nasal tube as concerns about her health mount.
“She said when I visited her (last week): ‘If they give me a severe sentence, I will refuse the food until the end.’ … She believes that she will die in prison, “said Ren Quanniu, one of Zhang’s defense lawyers.
“It is an extreme method of protesting against this society and this environment.”
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China’s communist authorities have a history of trying dissidents in opaque courts between Christmas and New Years to minimize Western scrutiny.
The trial comes just weeks before an international team of experts from the World Health Organization is expected to arrive in China to investigate the origins of COVID-19.
Another lawyer said that Zhang’s health was in decline and that he suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain.
“Restricted 24 hours a day, she needs help to go to the bathroom,” wrote Zhang Keke, who visited her on Christmas Day, in a note circulated on social media.
“She feels psychologically drained, as if every day is a torment.”
He said that Zhang has vowed not to stop his hunger strike despite repeated pleas from family, friends and lawyers.
Prosecutors have recommended a prison term of four to five years, but she has maintained her innocence throughout.
Zhang criticized the initial response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government “did not give people enough information and then simply closed the city.”
“This is a gross violation of human rights,” he wrote.
Rights groups have also drawn attention to Zhang’s case.
Authorities “want to use his case as an example to scare other dissidents from raising questions about the pandemic situation in Wuhan earlier this year,” said Leo Lan, research and advocacy consultant at the Chinese NGO Human Rights Defenders. .
Zhang is the first to face the trial of a group of four citizen journalists detained by authorities earlier this year after reporting from Wuhan.
Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three, Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua, were unsuccessful.
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