On the 28th, a democracy activist stands near the liaison office of the Central People’s Government of China in Hong Kong with a hand sign in support of Citizen Reporter Zhang Zan. Hong Kong = EPA Yonhap News
A Chinese court sentenced a citizen reporter to four years in prison for reporting the situation in Wuhan, Hubei Province, where the first outbreak and spread of a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) earlier this year. This is the first court ruling on the case. The international community, including the United Nations, strongly urged the release of reporters on the grounds of infringement on the freedom of expression.
Foreign media such as Bloomberg News reported that the Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court sentenced Chang Zan, 37, a citizen reporter who was accused of “public turmoil,” to four years in prison. The charges of public turmoil applied to Zhang Zan are up to five years in prison, mainly applied when Chinese authorities try to silence critics of the regime, dpa said.
Jang Jang, who worked as a lawyer in Shanghai, reported on Wuhan in February and posted a critical post on Social Network Service (SNS) stating that’the Chinese authorities blocked the city without revealing enough information to the residents’. A video of the patients wearing oxygen masks lined up in the hospital corridor and the crematorium filled with people was also posted.
However, he suddenly disappeared in mid-May, and it was belatedly revealed that he was arrested in Shanghai a month later. The indictment confirmed last month by the British Daily Guardian reportedly contained content that Jang Jang maliciously exaggerated through Chinese SNS WeChat, Twitter, and YouTube that the Corona 19 had occurred in Wuhan. The Chinese government also claimed that he had disseminated a large number of false facts through text and video and interviewed foreign media.
Earlier this month, when Jang Jang, who was in custody, started a hunger strike, the authorities inserted a tube all the way to the stomach and forced nutrients to be supplied. The lawyer said recently, “Jang Jan is not in good health enough to go to trial in a wheelchair.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed deep concern over this ruling. The Human Rights Office said on Twitter, “We have discussed Jang Jan’s arrest throughout 2020 as an over-cracked case of freedom of expression related to Corona 19 and continue to demand his release.”
Heo Gyeongju reporter [email protected]
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