COVID-19 reporter faces new sentence, charges explained
COVID-19 vaccination (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, one of the first to report on the spread of COVID-19, has been sentenced again, according to human rights advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakowska on X and Reuters.
The journalist was sentenced to four years in prison.
“She was 1st jailed for reporting on COVID-19, then re-arrested for covering rights abuses,” the human rights advocate wrote.
It was also reported that diplomats were not allowed into the court, and all details were kept secret.
Zhang Zhan was first sentenced in December 2020 on charges of picking quarrels and provoking trouble in China, following her publications, including videos showing overcrowded hospitals and empty streets in Wuhan.
A month after her arrest, she went on a hunger strike. According to her lawyers, her hands were tied, and she was force-fed through a tube.
Charges against the journalist
Zhang was released in May 2024, but three months later, she was detained again and placed in Shanghai's Pudong Detention Center. On September 19, 2025, she was given a new sentence of four years in prison.
Chinese authorities have never publicly specified the activities for which Zhang was charged, Reuters reports.
“Her ordeal and persecution must end. It is more urgent than ever for the international diplomatic community to pressure Beijing for her immediate release,” emphasized Antoine Bernard, Director of Advocacy and Assistance at Reporters Without Borders.
Zhang Zhan is a recipient of the 2021 Press Freedom Award.
COVID-19 situation in Ukraine
As reported by RBC-Ukraine, at the beginning of September, Ukraine recorded another surge in COVID-19 cases, with new infections rising by one-third.
According to routine epidemiological monitoring, between September 1 and 7, 14,414 people tested positive for the coronavirus, a 32.3% increase compared to the previous week.
