Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist who went to Wuhan, China, in February to report about the emerging coronavirus outbreak, was sentenced on Monday by a Chinese court to four years in prison after being charged with "picking fights and provoking trouble," The Associated Press reports.
Zhang, 37, is a former lawyer, and while in Wuhan she posted online about what she was learning about the coronavirus in the region. She was arrested in May in Shanghai, accused of spreading false information and disrupting public orders. Zhang reportedly went on a hunger strike during her detention, and is now in poor health, AP says. Her lawyer, Zhang Keke, told AP it was "inconvenient" to share details on the case, a typical response when a court has issued a partial gag order.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Olive oil: alternatives for the 'liquid gold'The Week Recommends As the price of this store cupboard staple has rocketed, we look at ways to save and other oils to use for cooking
-
Scotland Yard, Gaza and the politics of policing protestsTalking Point Met Police accused of 'two-tier policing' by former home secretary as new footage emerges of latest flashpoint
-
'Cure for Trump amnesia might be his NY trial'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cowSpeed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and earlySpeed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
-
US bans final type of asbestosSpeed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
-
Seattle Children's Hospital sues Texas over 'sham' demand for transgender medical recordsSpeed Read Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed records of any Texan who received gender-affirming care at the Washington hospital
-
Afghanistan has a growing female suicide problemSpeed Read The Taliban has steadily whittled away women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan over the past 2 years, prompting a surge in depression and suicide
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levelsSpeed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
-
Vallance diaries: Boris Johnson 'bamboozled' by Covid scienceSpeed Read Then PM struggled to get his head around key terms and stats, chief scientific advisor claims
-
An increasing number of dog owners are 'vaccine hesitant' about rabiesSpeed Read A new survey points to canine vaccine hesitancy
