Female adults prisoners at the Lo Wu Correction Institution (LWCI) line up to receive their certificates in vocational training during an award ceremony at the medium security Chinese institution in Hong Kong, March 2013. The Coalition for Women in Journalism on Monday afternoon put on social media how they are “very concerned” over Zhang’s whereabouts. Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, jailed for the last four years over her reporting of the COVID-19 pandemic, was set to be released Monday, but so far there has been no confirmation of her release, according to reports.
As of Monday morning, there had been no reports that Zhang had left her Chinese prison, according to a Chinese activist based in Britain who has been advocating for Zhang’s release. Advertisement
“We understand that Zhang Zhan’s family have been under enormous pressure and warned severely not to give media interviews,” Jane Wang posted on X.
“Friends’ calls have also been left without answers,” she wrote.
Zhang, now 40, was a lawyer from Shanghai who went to Wuhan to cover the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020 after the city’s January lockdown to mitigate the virus’ spread.
She later was detained by Chinese authorities in May 2020, and in December that year was convicted by a court in Shanghai of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and given a four year jail sentence.
Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, said in a statement how China’s jailing of Zhang “has been a shameful assault on her human rights, and her release must mark a new beginning.” Advertisement
And the Coalition for Women in Journalism on Monday afternoon put on social media how they are “very concerned” over Zhang’s whereabouts.
“The journalist’s [Zhang’s] whereabouts are unknown following her release from prison after spending four years behind bars for her COVID-related reporting,” they said on X, adding how they “demand immediate transparency from authorities.”
Israel surged to 6th place on list of nations with jailed journalists in 2023. But the People’s Republic of China “is the world’s largest prison for journalists, and its regime conducts a campaign of repression against journalism and the right to information worldwide,” according to Reporters Without Borders.
Even the U.S. State Department had previously called Zhang’s trial a “sham prosecution.” On Monday, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry claimed he had no “relevant information” pertaining to Zhang.
“Anyone who violates the law should be subject to legal sanctions,” Wang Wenbin, a Chinese government spokesman, said at a Beijing new conference.
“At the same time, China fully guarantees the legitimate rights of defendants and prisoners in accordance with the law,” he added.
But Wang on Monday wrote on social media how the Chinese government’s silence “speaks volumes.” Advertisement
“We call on the international society to hold the Chinese Communist regime accountable for its horrendous practice of ‘soft detention’ or ‘non-release release’ of former political prisoners,” she said.
