On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the first arrest of Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, 60 international human rights and press freedom organizations have jointly issued a statement strongly condemning the continued arbitrary detention of Zhang Zhan by the Chinese Communist government and the upcoming trial, urging her immediate release, and calling for an end to the systematic suppression of civil society. Insiders say that Zhang Zhan’s case has been postponed again.
Zhang Zhan, 42, graduated from the Southwest University of Finance and Economics and previously worked as a lawyer. In 2020, Zhang Zhan became widely known for reporting on the truth of the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, when she documented overcrowded hospitals, residents’ panic, and the government’s control measures, which temporarily became a key window for the outside world to understand the CCP’s concealment of the epidemic. However, she was arrested in May of the same year on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” and sentenced to four years in prison.
On May 13, 2024, Zhang Zhan was released after serving her sentence. Just three months later, she was rearrested for going to Gansu to rescue the detained social activist Zhang Pancheng, and in August of the same year, she was criminally detained on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” and held at the Pudong New Area Detention Center in Shanghai.
On May 14 of this year, on the fifth anniversary of her initial arrest, Zhang Zhan found herself facing another round of prosecution.
On May 17, human rights and press organizations from around the world released a joint statement urging the relevant authorities in China to immediately release citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, once again bringing attention to the human rights and press freedom situation in China.
Radio Free Asia reported on May 20 that a Mr. Liu, who declined to disclose his full name for personal safety reasons, revealed that Zhang Zhan’s trial, originally scheduled for April, has been postponed again: “Zhang Zhan’s hearing has been postponed again, for reasons unknown. It may be because the anniversary of June 4th is approaching, and they (the authorities) are very nervous.”
Chinese human rights lawyer based in the United States, Wu Shaoping, said that shortly after Zhang Zhan’s release on May 13 of last year, she was arrested again while visiting Zhang Pancheng, and the authorities have once again persecuted her by holding her in prolonged pretrial detention in harsh conditions at the detention center.
According to reports from rights groups, the case of Zhang Zhan is not unique but rather one of the systematic operations by the CCP in recent years to suppress independent media and dissenting voices.
Chinese legal scholar Lu Chenyuan stated that the authorities have consistently adopted a strategy of long-term detention for prisoners of conscience in order to break their will.
As early as 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention deemed Zhang Zhan’s initial arrest illegal and called on the Chinese authorities to release her immediately.
On March 4 of last year, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, in the latest global human rights report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, publicly called on China to amend the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” and release all individuals detained for peaceful expression. Several foreign ministries have expressed concerns about Zhang Zhan’s case in bilateral meetings, but the Chinese government has yet to make any substantive concessions.
Against this backdrop, 60 organizations from Asia, Europe, and North America, including Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, PEN America, International Human Rights Service, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and Students for a Free Tibet, have collectively raised their voices. In their statement, they urge the CCP to unconditionally release Zhang Zhan, cease all harassment and persecution against her, and ensure her physical and mental well-being, medical rights, and freedom to meet with family and lawyers.
The statement emphasizes that Zhang Zhan has not committed any internationally recognized crimes, and yet she is being brutally persecuted solely for exercising her freedom of speech. Her detention is a blatant mockery of the CCP’s international human rights obligations and the humane conditions in prisons.