China jails citizen-journalist for for 4 years for Wuhan virus reporting

Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was detained in May for her stay stream reporting from Wuhan over COVID-19, has been sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment on Monday, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported.

She has been convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for her reporting within the chaotic preliminary levels of the outbreak. Dozens of her supporters and diplomats gathered exterior Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court on Monday morning earlier than the trial started, in accordance with HKFP.

The police, nonetheless, pushed journalists and observers away from the doorway.

The New York Times reported that the 37-year-old former lawyer is on a starvation strike since June. According to her legal professionals, she has been compelled fed through a nasal tube as issues develop about her well being.

“She said she refuses to participate in the trial. She says it’s an insult,” Ren Quanniu, one of many legal professionals mentioned after visiting Zhang in mid-December in Shanghai, the place she is being held.

Ren, who visited individually later, pleaded with Zhang to eat. But she refused, Ren mentioned.

She’s a lot paler than in her movies and images — deathly pale,” Ren mentioned, including that Zhang appeared to have aged a number of many years. “It’s really hard to believe that she’s the same person as you saw online.”

China’s court docket system is notoriously opaque, with delicate instances typically heard behind closed doorways.

The trial comes simply weeks earlier than a global crew of World Health Organization specialists are anticipated to reach in China to research the origins of COVID-19.