A Chinese journalist who had been serving a four-year jail spell after reporting on the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan has been slapped with an additional prison term.
Zhang Zhan, 42, was sentenced to a further four years behind bars for “picking quarrels and causing trouble”, a repeat of her initial conviction in December 2020, the international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has reported.
Ms Zhan first landed in hot water with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities after publishing accounts of overwhelmed hospitals as the regime refused to acknowledge the devastating impact of the disease in the country.
Numerous free press interest groups rushed to the 42-year-old's defence ahead of Friday's hearing at the state-controlled court, urging Western leaders to put pressure on the CCP to release the citizen journalist.
Zhang Zhan, 42, was sentenced to another four years behind bars for 'picking quarrels and causing trouble'
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RSF's director of advocacy Antoine Bernard said: “Zhang Zhan should be celebrated as an ‘information hero’.
"Instead, she is once again being prosecuted by the Chinese regime, fighting for her survival in prison.”
Concern has been mounting for the journalist's welfare after human rights groups said Ms Zhang had been force-fed through a tube after going on a hunger strike.
It is also believed she has been held in near-solitary confinement conditions in the Chinese prison system.
It is also believed she has been held in near-solitary confinement conditions in the Chinese prison system
|GETTY
Ms Zhan's lawyer, Peng Yonghe, was put under police control after calling her a "true patriot" while testifying on her behalf in court.
RSF's Taiwan advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakow noted that "diplomats were barred from her trial, with all details concealed".
Mr Bielakow went on to urge Chinese authorities to put an end to her "persecution".
The Asia-Pacific director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Beh Lih Yi, said: "This is the second time Zhang has faced trial on baseless charges that amount to nothing more than a blatant act of persecution for her journalism work.
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“Chinese authorities must put an end to the arbitrary detention of Zhang, drop all charges and free her immediately.”
Despite being the largest media market globally, China has some of the tightest restrictions on press freedom in the world.
The RSF has previously described the Chinese dictator Xi Jinping as the "planet's leading censor and press freedom predator".
The advocacy group said the state's tightly controlled press aims to achieve "complete hegemony over news coverage and the creation of an international media order heavily influenced by China".
Four in five journalists in the East Asian nation have experienced some level of harassment, interference or violence
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Around 123 media workers are believed to be currently serving prison sentences in China for their reporting activities.
In 2023, 68-year-old independent journalist Sun Lin was allegedly beaten to death outside his home by police after he released footage of a protest against Mr Jinping.
According to a survey carried out by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, four in five journalists in the East Asian nation have experienced some level of harassment, interference or violence.
The 2024 World Freedom Press Index ranked China 172nd out of 180 countries studied for their freedom of press.
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