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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial |
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ARTICLE VIEW: |
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Chinese COVID whistleblower sentenced to 4 more years in jail, group |
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says |
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Story by Reuters |
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Updated: |
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3:02 AM EDT, Sun September 21, 2025 |
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Source: Reuters |
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A Chinese journalist jailed for four years after documenting the early |
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phases of the COVID-19 outbreak from the pandemic’s epicenter was |
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sentenced on Friday to four more years in prison, Reporters Without |
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Borders said. |
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, 42, was sentenced on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking |
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trouble” in China, the same charge that led to her December 2020 |
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imprisonment after she posted first-hand accounts from the central city |
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of Wuhan on the early spread of coronavirus, the international press |
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freedom group, known by its French initials RSF, said on Saturday. |
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China’s Foreign Ministry could not be immediately reached on Sunday |
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for comment. Reuters could not determine whether the citizen journalist |
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had legal representation. |
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“She should be celebrated globally as an ‘information hero’, not |
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trapped in brutal prison conditions,” RSF Asia-Pacific advocacy |
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manager Aleksandra Bielakowska said in a statement. |
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“Her ordeal and persecution must end. It is more urgent than ever for |
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the international diplomatic community to pressure Beijing for her |
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immediate release.” |
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Zhang was initially arrested after months of posting accounts, |
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including videos, from crowded hospitals and empty streets that painted |
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a more dire early picture of the disease than the official narrative. |
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Her lawyer at the time, Ren Quanniu, said Zhang believed she was |
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“being persecuted for exercising her freedom of speech.” |
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She went on hunger strike the month after that arrest, according to |
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court documents seen by Reuters, prompting police to strap her hands |
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and force-feed her with a tube, her lawyers said at the time. |
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Zhang was and detained again three months later, eventually being |
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formally arrested and placed in Shanghai’s Pudong Detention Center, |
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RSF said. |
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Friday’s sentencing followed Zhang’s reporting on China’s human |
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rights abuses, RSF said. Her former lawyer Ren posted on X that the new |
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charges were based on Zhang’s comment on overseas websites and she |
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should not be deemed guilty. |
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China’s authorities have never publicly specified what activities |
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Zhang was charged for. |
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“This is the second time Zhang Zhan has faced trial on baseless |
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charges that amount to nothing more than a blatant act of persecution |
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for her journalism work,” said Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director for |
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the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. “Chinese |
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authorities must put an end to the arbitrary detention of Zhang, drop |
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all charges, and free her immediately.” |
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China is the world’s biggest jailer of journalists, with at least 124 |
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media workers behind bars, RSF said. The nation ranked 178th out of 180 |
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countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index. |
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A week before Zhang’s latest sentencing, China’s top lawmakers |
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passed a bill to accelerate public health emergency responses by |
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allowing people to report emergencies, bypassing the government’s |
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usual hierarchical structure. |
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