Current:Home > BackZhang Zhan, imprisoned for ‘provoking trouble’ while reporting on COVID in China, is released-LoTradeCoin
Zhang Zhan, imprisoned for ‘provoking trouble’ while reporting on COVID in China, is released
View Date:2024-12-24 07:28:50
BANGKOK (AP) — Zhang Zhan was released from prison after serving four years for charges related to reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, according to a video statement she released Tuesday, eight days after her sentence ended, though there are concerns about how much freedom of movement she has.
Zhang was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a vaguely defined charge often used in political cases, and served her full term. Yet, on the day of her release, her former lawyers could not reach her or her family. Shanghai police had paid visits to activists and her former lawyers in the days leading up to her release.
In a short video, Zhang said she was taken by police to her brother Zhang Ju’s home on May 13, the day she finished her sentence.
“I want to thank everyone for their help and concern,” she said in a soft voice, standing in what appeared to be a hallway of an apartment building.
The video was posted by Jane Wang, an overseas activist who launched the Free Zhang Zhan campaign in the United Kingdom and is in contact with one of Zhang’s former lawyers. However, Wang said in a statement that Zhang still has limited freedom. They became concerned that Zhang would be kept under further control by police even if she was no longer in prison.
The United States Department of State also issued a statement of concern over Zhang’s status in the days after she was due to be released.
Ren Quanniu represented Zhang before being stripped of his license in February 2021. He said he confirmed the video was true by speaking with Zhang’s family.
“She’s not free, she’s relatively free,” he said in a message to the AP. “She’s still under the watch and care of the police.”
During her detention at Shanghai’s Women Prison, Zhang staged a hunger strike and was hospitalized at one point in 2021. Zhang’s family, who could often only speak to her by phone, faced police pressure during her incarceration, and her parents refused to speak to news outlets.
Zhang was among a handful of citizen journalists who traveled to the central Chinese city of Wuhan after the government put it under total lockdown in February 2020, in the early days of the pandemic. She walked around the city to document public life as fears grew about the novel coronavirus.
Others spent time in jail for documenting the early days of the pandemic, including Fang Bin, who published videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the outbreak. Fang was sentenced to three years in prison and released in April 2023.
Chen Qiushi, another citizen journalist, disappeared in February 2020 while filming in Wuhan. Chen resurfaced in September 2021 on a friend’s live video feed on YouTube, saying he had suffered from depression. He did not provide details about his disappearance.
The coronavirus remains a sensitive topic in China. In the first week of May, the Chinese scientist who first published a sequence of the COVID-19 virus protested authorities barring him from his lab, after years of demotions and setbacks.
veryGood! (265)
Related
- Jason Kelce Offers Up NSFW Explanation for Why Men Have Beards
- Jeremy Renner reflects on New Year's Day near-fatal accident, recovery: 'I feel blessed'
- Horoscopes Today, December 31, 2023
- NOAA detects largest solar flare since 2017: What are they and what threats do they pose?
- Only 8 monkeys remain free after more than a week outside a South Carolina compound
- More Americans think foreign policy should be a top US priority for 2024, an AP-NORC poll finds
- Turkey detains 33 people suspected of spying on behalf of Israel
- Peter Magubane, a South African photographer who captured 40 years of apartheid, dies at age 91
- Federal judge orders Oakland airport to stop using ‘San Francisco’ in name amid lawsuit
- Jeremy Renner reflects on New Year's Day near-fatal accident, recovery: 'I feel blessed'
Ranking
- Beyoncé nominated for album of the year at Grammys — again. Will she finally win?
- Rose Bowl expert predictions as Alabama and Michigan meet in College Football Playoff
- Hail and Farewell: A tribute to those we lost in 2023
- After 180 years, a small daily newspaper in the US Virgin Islands says it is closing
- As Northeast wildfires keep igniting, is there a drought-buster in sight?
- Michigan didn't flinch in emotional defeat of Alabama and is now one win from national title
- Haliburton gets help from Indiana’s reserves as Pacers win 122-113, end Bucks’ home win streak
- Raise a Glass to Ryan Seacrest's Sweet New Year's Shout-Out From Girlfriend Aubrey Paige
Recommendation
-
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul VIP fight package costs a whopping $2M. Here's who bought it.
-
Biden administration approves emergency weapons sale to Israel, bypassing Congress
-
Tunnel flooding under the River Thames strands hundreds of travelers in Paris and London
-
Taylor Swift dethrones Elvis Presley as solo artist with most weeks atop Billboard 200 chart
-
The Surreal Life’s Kim Zolciak Fuels Dating Rumors With Costar Chet Hanks After Kroy Biermann Split
-
A Colorado mother suspected of killing 2 of her children makes court appearance in London
-
Pretty Little Liars' Brant Daugherty and Wife Kim Welcome Baby No. 2
-
16-year-old boy fatally stabbed on a hill overlooking London during New Year’s Eve