Reporting from Wuhan
Corona reporter released from prison in China
After four years in prison, China's authorities have released a citizen reporter who reported on the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic from Wuhan and was later convicted by a court.
Supporters of the former lawyer published a video of her on the X platform on Wednesday night. In it, she says: "Hello, I'm Zhang Zhan." On May 13 at 5 a.m., the police took her to her brother's apartment in Shanghai.
The video of the citizen reporter on Platform X:
The now 40-year-old Chinese woman was arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to four years in prison in December 2020 for reporting on the virus outbreak in the locked-down central Chinese city. A court in the eastern Chinese metropolis of Shanghai found her guilty of picking quarrels and provoking riots. Her release date was set for May 13, but since then there has been no trace of the Chinese woman.
NGO: Zhang Zhan not really free
The organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed relief at the confirmation of Zhang Zhan's release, but stressed that she is not really free and remains under strict surveillance. In addition, the authorities could prevent her from traveling abroad despite having served her sentence.
Critical condition after hunger strike
Zhang was actually a lawyer. After her reports as a citizen reporter, the authorities revoked her license. She had publicized her experiences on the video platform YouTube, which is banned in China, and the online network X (then still Twitter), among others. According to reports, she went on hunger strike after her arrest in May 2020, was force-fed for a time and weighed just 40 kilograms at one point. Reporters Without Borders and human rights activists from Amnesty International repeatedly called for her release and international pressure on the Chinese government.
The zero Covid strategy led to a massive wave
At the end of 2019, the then still unknown, devastating viral disease Covid-19 appeared in Wuhan and was initially largely covered up. This was followed weeks later by a lockdown and China's rigid zero Covid strategy with tough measures to contain the spread of infection, which could hardly be maintained at the beginning of 2022. In December 2022, the government surprisingly abandoned the much-criticized strategy. The result was a massive coronavirus wave until the beginning of last year.
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