A Chinese journalist who had already served four years in prison for documenting the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak at its epicentre was on Friday handed another four-year sentence, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Journalist, Zhang Zhan, 42, was sentenced on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble" in China, the same charge that led to her December 2020 imprisonment after she posted first-hand accounts from the central city of Wuhan on the early spread of coronavirus, the international press freedom group, known by its French initials RSF, said on Saturday.
China’s Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment on Sunday, and Reuters was unable to confirm whether the citizen journalist had legal representation.
“She should be celebrated globally as an ‘information hero’, not trapped in brutal prison conditions," RSF Asia-Pacific advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakowska said in a statement.
“Her ordeal and persecution must end. It is more urgent than ever for the international diplomatic community to pressure Beijing for her immediate release."
Initially, Zhang was arrested after months of posting accounts, including videos, from crowded hospitals and empty streets that painted a more dire early picture of the disease than the official narrative. According to her lawyer at...
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