This Chinese Citizen Journalist Who Was Jailed For Reporting On COVID-19 Has Finally Been Freed
Zhang Zhan, an activist and lawyer, had documented the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown in China, questioning and critizing the government’s response in her social media videos and essays.
![This Chinese Citizen Journalist Who Was Jailed For Reporting On COVID-19 Has Finally Been Freed](/content/images/size/w1200/2024/05/china-zhang-zhan-covid-citizen-journalist-free.jpg)
This Chinese citizen journalist who was jailed for reporting on COVID-19 has finally been freed .
![Chinese journalist zhang zhan freed](https://almostmag.co/content/images/2024/05/Chinese-journalist-zhang-zhan-freed-copy.jpg)
In February 2020, 40-year-old Zhang Zhan, an activist and lawyer, had traveled from her home in Shanghai to Wuhan, where the COVID-19 virus first broke out.
She began documenting the outbreak and the subsequent lockdown, questioning and critizing the government’s response in her social media videos and essays.
Zhang then went missing in May, but it was later revealed she had been arrested by Shanghai police.
She was eventually sentenced to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge the Chinese government often uses against dissidents and activists.
While in prison, she frequently went on hunger strikes, losing half of her body weight and raising concerns about her health.
She was due to be released on Monday May 13, but did not appear, causing concerns from rights groups.
On Tuesday May 21, another activist campaigning for Zhang shared a video of her, confirming she had been freed.
【Press release:#ZhangZhan has left prison】
— Jane Wang 王剑虹 (@changchengwai) May 21, 2024
Beijing time 22:16, Tuesday 21 May 2024
Today, we finally received confirmation that Zhang Zhan @consultorzhang has been released from prison. However, she only has limited freedom.
In a short video recording provided by an… pic.twitter.com/sZk10FJQXw
However, rights groups have said that Zhang is still under strict surveillance and is not fully free.
![Chinese journalist zhang zhan](https://almostmag.co/content/images/2024/05/Chinese-journalist-zhang-zhan.jpeg)
Zhang is just one of the several citizen journalists who were arrested or disappeared by the Chinese government for reporting about the coronavirus in Wuhan.
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