DEATH’S DOOR

China Locked Her Up for Reporting on COVID Outbreak—Now She’s Nearly Dead

Zhang Zhan went to Wuhan as a citizen journalist in February 2020 to report on the unfolding chaos.

One of the few journalists who was brave enough to report on the Chinese government’s response to the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan is on the verge of death in prison, her family has said. Former lawyer Zhang Zhan, 38, went to Wuhan as a citizen journalist in February 2020 to report on the unfolding chaos. In a series of videos shot on her phone, she questioned how the government was responding to the outbreak before she was detained in May 2020. She was then sentenced to four years in jail for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Now, her family says that, as a result of a hunger strike, she’s at risk of death. According to The Guardian, her brother wrote on Twitter that she now weighs less than 90 pounds and and “may not live for much longer.” Zhang Ju wrote: “She may not survive the coming cold winter... I hope the world remember how she used to be.” On Thursday, Amnesty International said Zhang “is at risk of dying if she is not urgently released to receive medical treatment.”