The IPI global network welcomes the release on May 13 of Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, after serving a four year prison sentence for reporting on the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. However, IPI calls for the immediate removal of all restrictions on Zhan’s freedom, including continued state surveillance.

In February 2020, Zhang was among a handful of citizen journalists who traveled to Wuhan to document events there when the Chinese government ordered the city under total lockdown at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Zhang also reported the detention of other journalists and harassment of families of victims by authorities. Her reports appeared on Twitter, WeChat, and YouTube.

She was arrested on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and accused of sending false information about the outbreak, including by giving interviews to foreign media. She was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

While in Shanghai’s Women Prison, Zhang staged a hunger strike and was eventually hospitalized due to severe malnutrition. During her strike, prison officials tried to force feed her by tying and chaining her arms, torso, and feet, according to reports. Zhang’s family faced police pressure during her incarceration, which prompted them to turn down calls to speak to the press. 

Zhang was scheduled for release on May 13, but Chinese authorities refused to disclose details. Her former lawyer Ren Quanniu, whose law license has since been revoked after representing a Hong Kong activist in court, did not immediately manage to reach his former client or her family members. Quanniu said he was afraid that Zhang would be released only to find herself under another form of police control. 

On May 21, Zhang finally confirmed that she had been released. She expressed her gratitude for the concern and help she had received during her time in jail in a video uploaded on X by the activist Jane Wang, who launched the Free Zhang Zhan campaign in the UK. Ren Quanniu confirmed the video’s authenticity. 

However, Wang says that Zhang’s freedom is still limited. 

“She is subject to intrusive government surveillance and harassment. She is at high risk of being “disappeared” or arrested again”, Wang commented on X.

“While IPI is relieved that Zhang Zhan has finally been released from prison, this step does not make up for the four years she spent behind bars simply for bravely trying to report the truth about the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan”, IPI Director of Advocacy Amy Brouillette said. 

“Moreover, we call on the Chinese authorities to immediately rescind any restrictions on Zhan’s freedom and end police surveillance of her. She committed no crime and must be allowed to live and work freely.”

At the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Chinese government was quick to adopt strict censorship measures to control information about the spread of the virus. Along with Zhang Zhan, other citizen journalists like Fang Bin and Chen Qiushi faced detention or disappearance for their reporting on the virus. 

IPI’s Covid-19 Press Freedom Tracker registered a high number of pandemic-related press freedom violations in China and elsewhere throughout 2020 and 2021.