Human Rights Watch calls for immediate release of Chinese journalist who reported on COVID

Human Rights Watch (HRW), on Friday, asked China to immediately and unconditionally release activist Zhang Zhan, who was arrested early last year for reporting coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan-the epicentre of the global health crisis. Despite pleading not guilty, the 37-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison in December on charges vis-a-vis slandering of the incumbent Chinese Communist Party (CCP) administration. Since her detention, Zhan has held several hunger strikes, resulting in serious health deterioration.

Meanwhile, HRW said that Zhan was currently in “grave health condition” and required immediate medical care. Slamming the Xi Jinping administration, the rights group said that the Chinese government needed to be held to account for “allowing yet another peaceful critic to fall gravely ill while unjustly imprisoned.” It is pertinent to note that the British Embassy in Beijing had earlier demanded the same along with several other rights groups.

Zhang exposed China's ill strategies 

Zhang covered the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in February 2020, exposing the Chinese authorities' strategies for controlling the virus' spread as well as the situation in local hospitals. Following this, she was arrested in May 2020 on charges of distributing false information on social media. Zhang allegedly commented on the COVID pandemic while giving interviews to international news organisations, according to the indictment document. Zhang has been on a hunger strike in protest of the unjust charges levelled against her owing to which her health has severely deteriorated, reported the RFA.

Zhang pleads not guilty in Court

In December last year, Zhang reached the court in a wheelchair for her trial and pleaded not guilty. In China's legal system, a guilty plea is usually a prerequisite for more lenient sentencing under the governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On October 28, Zhang's mother had talked to her daughter on a video call and told the RFA that her health had deteriorated. "She can no longer walk alone, and her head wobbles as she speaks. If they don't release her on medical parole, she'll be in grave danger," Zhang's mother explained. The journalist has continued her hunger strike despite frantic pleas from her own family, according to Gansu-based rights activist Li Dawei as reported by RFA. 

(Image: Twitter/@UK in China)

(With inputs from ANI)