Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan has been sentenced to another four years in prison for reporting on the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She had previously been imprisoned in 2020 for depicting hospitals and empty streets in the city of Wuhan here.
Zhang has been accused of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." After being imprisoned in 2020, she declared a hunger strike, and the police force-fed her. She was released in May 2024 but was detained again after three months.
International organizations have called Zhang an "information hero" and are calling on the Chinese government to release her. The charges against her are considered baseless.
At least 124 journalists are imprisoned in China. The country ranks 178th in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
