Amnesty International denounces new conviction of Zhang Zhan

Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan has been sentenced again to four years in prison for "provoking disturbances," Amnesty International reported Tuesday, calling for her immediate release and warning of risks to her health and well-being.

According to the human rights organization, the sentence was handed down after a trial held last Friday in Shanghai, eastern China.

This is Zhang's second conviction for the same crime, which, according to Amnesty International, "put his health and life at risk." The organization considered the charges "baseless" and demanded the verdict be overturned.

Amnesty International's China director, Sarah Brooks, called on Chinese authorities to ensure Zhang has contact with his lawyers and family during his detention. The organization also called for an end to the use of the charge of "provoking unrest," often used in China against human rights defenders and dissidents.

In a statement, Amnesty International urged the international community to use its influence to secure the release of Zhang and other “unjustly detained” people.

The European Union delegation in China also called, via the social network Weibo, for Zhang's "immediate and unconditional release" and urged the country to "respect freedom of expression and procedural guarantees."

On Friday, when asked about Zhang's legal status, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press conference that he had "no knowledge" of the case.

In August 2024, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) reported that Zhang was detained by police while trying to travel from Shanghai to Gansu province in northwest China to help the family of a recently detained activist obtain legal representation.

Zhang had been released in May 2024 after serving a four-year prison sentence for independently reporting the initial Covid-19 outbreak in the city of Wuhan.

The journalist has always denied the accusations, claiming that her stories—published on platforms like WeChat and others blocked in China, such as Twitter and YouTube—should not be subject to censorship.

According to Amnesty International, Zhang's work in Wuhan focused primarily on exposing the harassment of other journalists and family members of Covid-19 victims during the early days of the pandemic.

At the time, Amnesty International called his trial “a shameful attack on human rights,” stressing that Zhang was only trying to tell “what was really happening in Wuhan” in a context of great government opacity.