Zhang Zhan (1983) is a Chinese citizen journalist and former lawyer. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, she travelled to Wuhan to report on life under lockdown, independent of official accounts. For her reporting, she was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for several years. Zhang’s courageous commitment to documenting the truth, despite severe repression, has made her a symbol of press freedom and the right to information. Her story highlights the crucial role of independent voices in a world where freedom of expression is constantly under pressure.
Laureate Difference Day Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression 2021
Zhang Zhan is a Chinese citizen journalist and former lawyer who was tortured by Chinese secret police and sentenced to four years in prison. Her trial was rushed, with no independent observers allowed. She was convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” due to her reporting on the Chinese government’s inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhang was the first journalist to report on the outbreak in Wuhan, making her the first citizen journalist in China to be convicted for pandemic coverage. At least 47 other journalists remain imprisoned in China for reporting on the coronavirus.
In the early months of the outbreak, Zhang traveled to Wuhan to report and collect testimonies, which she shared on social media platforms including WeChat, Twitter, and YouTube. She also reported on the detention of independent journalists and the intimidation of families of COVID-19 victims. In May 2020, Zhang was arrested and held on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” She endured appalling conditions in prison, with her hands and feet shackled for three months. She went on hunger strikes but was force-fed. From 31 July to 11 August 2021, she was hospitalized due to malnutrition following a prolonged hunger strike. By late October, her mother and brother feared she was close to death, while she continued her protest. Her case prompted calls for her immediate and unconditional release from the U.S. government, Reporters Without Borders, and the UN Human Rights Office. Amnesty International also demanded her unconditional release, and hundreds of thousands of people worldwide wrote letters supporting her through the Write for Rights campaign. On 21 May 2024, after four years of wrongful imprisonment, Zhang Zhan was finally released and reunited with her family.
However, authorities have continued to harass her. Zhang has reported being monitored, and in recent months she was repeatedly interrogated by police, sometimes for more than ten hours at a time. In late August, she reportedly traveled from Shanghai to the northwestern province of Gansu to show solidarity with other human rights defenders. Shortly after, while visiting her birthplace in Shaanxi, she became unreachable. Civil society groups reported that she was taken into custody by police in Shanghai, over 1,000 kilometres away, and is being held in the Pudong New District Detention Center. Zhang faces a new prison sentence of up to 15 years for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a charge frequently used against journalists, writers, and human rights activists in China. The date for her new trial remains uncertain. Amnesty International has called on Chinese authorities to restore Zhang Zhan’s full freedom, including the right to move freely and communicate with anyone, domestically or abroad.
“This recent detention underscores the Chinese authorities’ persistent intolerance of dissent and of Zhang Zhan, who has continued to show solidarity with other human rights defenders despite her wrongful imprisonment. She was detained again because she refused to remain silent,” said Sarah Brooks, China Director at Amnesty International.
On 2 September 2024, Zhang Zhan turned 41. Instead of celebrating with her family, she spent her fifth consecutive birthday in prison.
Sources: Amnesty International, Wikipedia, VUB Today