Chinese Journalist In Jail Over Wuhan Covid Report Is ‘Close To Death’: Report

Zhang Zhan, the 38-year-old former lawyer, reported from Wuhan in February last year about Covid outbreak in the city and questioned the authorities over its handling of the pandemic

Zhang Zhan | Image: AFP

New Delhi: Chinese journalist and lawyer Zhang Zhan, who was imprisoned for her report on China’s early response to the Covid outbreak in Wuhan, is "close to death", according to an AFP report. Her family has been making requests to the rights groups for her immediate release. 

The 38-year-old former lawyer reported from Wuhan in February last year about the chaos caused by the pandemic. In her smartphone videos, she had also questioned the authorities over its handling of the outbreak. 

Following this, Zhang, along with a group of journalists including Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua, were detained in May 2020. Zhang was sentenced to four-year imprisonment in December 2020 for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.

Her brother Zhang Ju posted a tweet, saying she is currently severely underweight and “may not live for much longer”, AFP reported. He also said that he asked his sister to “take care of herself” in his letters to her. "She may not survive the coming cold winter," he added. 

According to reports, she cannot even walk or raise her head on her own now. 

Her legal team had told AFP earlier this year that Zhang was being force-fed through a nasal tube. The team does not have any information about her current condition. 

Her family had requested to meet her in the Shanghai women’s prison more than three weeks ago, to which the family has got no response yet. 

Following Zhang Ju’s post, Amnesty International appealed to the Chinese Government to immediately release Zhang so that she can receive appropriate medical treatment and end her hunger strike. 

Amnesty campaigner Gwen Lee labelled the arrest as “shameful attack on human rights”.

While Zhang Zhan is still in jail, the Chinese government has been applauding the Communist Party for bringing life back to normal even when deaths and infections continue to explode in rest of the world.