Chinese citizen journalist faces trial for COVID-19 reporting in Wuhan
28 December, 2020
A good Chinese citizen journalist held since May on her behalf Livestream reporting from Wuhan as the COVID-19 outbreak unfurled was a place for trial Mon (Dec 28), practically a year after details of an "unknown viral pneumonia" surfaced in the central China town.
Zhang Zhan, an ex-lawyer, could face up to five years in jail if convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking problem" on her behalf reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak.
Her live reports and essays were widely shared on the subject of social media platforms in February, grabbing the attention of authorities, who have punished eight virus whistleblowers as far as they defang criticism of the government's response to the outbreak.
Around a dozen supporters and diplomats gathered outside Shanghai Pudong New District People's Courtroom on Monday morning, but law enforcement pushed journalists and observers from the entrance as the defendant and her attorney arrived.
The 37-year-old Zhang started out a hunger strike in June, according to her attorneys, and has been force-fed with a nasal tube as concerns grow about her health.
"She said when I visited her (the other day): 'If they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food before extremely end.' ... She thinks she'll die in prison," explained Ren Quanniu, among Zhang's defense lawyers.
"It's an extreme approach to protesting from this society which environment."
China's communist authorities possess a history of putting dissidents on trial found in opaque courts between Xmas and New Season to minimize Western scrutiny.
The trial comes just weeks before an international team of World Health Organization authorities is expected to arrive in China to research the origins of COVID-19.
Another lawyer said Zhang's health was in decline and she suffered from headaches, dizziness, and stomach soreness.
"Restrained 24 hours per day, she desires assistance going to the bathroom," Zhang Keke, who visited her over Christmas Day, wrote found in a note circulated on social mass media.
"She feels psychologically exhausted, like every day is a torment."
He said Zhang has vowed not to stop her hunger strike in spite of repeated pleas from family, friends, and lawyers.
Prosecutors have recommended a good prison sentence of a number of to five years, but she's maintained her innocence throughout.
Zhang was first critical of the first response in Wuhan, publishing in a good February essay that the government "didn't give persons enough info, then simply locked straight down the city".
"This is an excellent violation of human legal rights," she wrote.
Rights groups have also drawn focus on Zhang's case.
Authorities "want to make use of her case for example to scare off other dissidents from raising problems about the pandemic situation found in Wuhan earlier this season", said Leo Lan, exploration and advocacy consultant at the Chinese Human Privileges Defenders NGO.
Zhang may be the first to face the trial of several 4 citizen journalists detained by authorities earlier this season after reporting from Wuhan.
Previous attempts by AFP to get hold of the other 3 - Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin, and Li Zehua - were unsuccessful.
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