(Shanghai — November 26, 2024) – After three months of detention, the authorities have completely blocked information about the case of prominent human rights defender Zhang Zhan. Recently, it was rumored that Zhang Zhan had been formally arrested.
Zhang Zhan Arrested again
According to Rights Defense News, on November 26, 2024, with the approval of the Shanghai Pudong Procuratorate, the Pudong Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau arrested Zhang Zhan on November 18, 2024, on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. Zhang Zhan is currently being held at the Pudong New District Detention Center.
This is a vague charge often used in political cases. Due to her relentless hunger strike, this has once again raised concerns among the public and activists about her health. The lack of transparency surrounding Zhang Zhan’s situation and her case, due to the authorities’ embargo, has heightened concerns that she may face further persecution and unfair sentencing by the authorities.
Why was Zhang Zhan arrested in 2020?
Ms. Zhang Zhan traveled to Wuhan in February 2020 as a citizen journalist to cover the 2019 coronavirus outbreak, documenting the plight of the city’s citizens during the lockdown and instantly releasing video footage shot in various locations, including local hospitals and neighborhoods.
Zhang Zhan was arrested in May and sentenced to four years in prison for “provoking trouble”, where she went on hunger strikes and once weighed less than 40 kilograms. She was released from prison in May of this year.
Zhang Zhan arrested again in 2024
Three months after her release, in August 2024, Zhang Zhan, who wanted to provide legal assistance to Zhang Bancheng, an arrested Gansu youth activist, traveled from Shanghai to Zhang’s hometown of Gansu to convince Zhang’s mother to sign a power of attorney. Zhang Zhan was a Christian parishioner of Zhang Bancheng, and after Zhang’s arrest, Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, traveled to Gansu to try to rescue him.
Zhang Zhan returned to her hometown of Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, where she was brought back to Shanghai by the Shanghai police on August 25, 2024, where she was criminally detained on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and has now been formally authorized to be arrested. He is being held in the Pudong New District Detention Center in Shanghai.
Zhang Zhan graduated from the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, has worked as a lawyer and in rights defense activities, and is a Christian. China is known for its harsh repression of press freedom, and Zhang Zhan is a Chinese citizen imprisoned for exercising her right to freedom of expression. Chinese authorities must stop the persecution of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan.
(By Gao Zhensai, Special Correspondent for ChinaAid)