Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, currently imprisoned, has once again received a human rights award, with German writer Yan Ge taking the award on her behalf.
According to reports from Radio France, the first “Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Award” was presented in Leipzig, Germany on the 13th local time, with two co-recipients including Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan and Roland Kühne, a teacher at the Rheinmachs Vocational School in Germany.
Yan Ge, representing Zhang Zhan during the award acceptance, stated that due to Zhang Zhan’s surveillance, inability to leave the country, and inability to speak out, she used words that Zhang Zhan had previously said as her acceptance speech, “When I see more and more people living in lies and disasters, if it is considered a crime to speak out for one’s survival, then I cannot stop speaking out.”
“The problem in this country is a problem of the system. I believe we should be brave and persevere; freedom is never free. I hope this country will change.”
Yan Ge expressed that these words represent Zhang Zhan’s character and courage, making her the most deserving recipient of the “Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Award.”
Zhang Zhan was born on September 2, 1983, in Xianyang, Shaanxi, is a citizen journalist, and a Christian. In 2010, she was introduced to Shanghai as a talent, worked as a lawyer, and was later disbarred for participating in human rights activities and signing the petition to amend lawyer management regulations.
During the Hong Kong “anti-extradition” movement, Zhang Zhan voiced support for Hong Kong. In September 2019, she held an umbrella with the words “End socialism, overthrow the Communist Party” written on it, marched on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai in support of Hong Kong protesters, and was detained for 2 months by the police on charges of “provoking trouble.”
During the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, Hubei in 2020, when the city was under lockdown, Zhang Zhan was sentenced to 4 years in prison for going to the area to investigate the truth of the epidemic and the lockdown situation. After serving her sentence and being released in 2024, Zhang Zhan was once again sentenced to 4 years in prison in September 2025 for openly supporting other human rights defenders.
Zhang Zhan received several awards, including the Honorary Freedom of Speech Award from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium in 2021, the Lin Zhao Freedom Award for 2020, the 21st Youth Chinese Human Rights Award in 2021, and the Courage Award for Press Freedom in 2021.