Chinese journalist imprisoned for her Covid reporting due to be released after four years

Hong Kong CNN —

A Chinese citizen journalist who has been behind bars for four years over her reporting on the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan is due to be released Monday after serving her sentence, according to supporters and a court verdict.

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, was one of the few independent Chinese journalists reporting in Wuhan after the metropolis of 11 million people went into a complete lockdown, offering a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the reality on the ground as Chinese authorities imposed tight censorship on media coverage.

She was detained in May 2020 and sentenced months later to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – a charge commonly used by the Chinese government to target dissidents and human rights activists.

Zhang is due to finish her sentence on Monday, according to the court verdict on her case obtained and published by human rights groups.

In the lead-up to her expected release on Monday, supporters and rights groups have called on the Chinese government to free Zhang on schedule.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which awarded Zhang its Press Freedom Award in 2021, called on “the international community to put pressure on the authorities to ensure her unconditional release on Monday” in a post on social platform X Friday.

Prominent Chinese virologist Zhang Yongzhen pictured sleeping outside his lab at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center in this image shared on social media.

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In early February in 2020, just days after Wuhan went into lockdown, Zhang traveled some 400 miles from Shanghai to the central Chinese city to report on the spread of the