Chinese Citizen Journalist Gets 4-Yr Jail Term For Coronavirus Reporting From Wuhan

Shanghai: A citizen journalist in China has been sent to jail for four years for her reporting on the coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan.

Zhang Zhan, a lawyer-turned-citizen journalist, had been detained in May.

Her lawyer informed that on Monday she had been sentenced to four-year imprisonment after a hearing in Shanghai’s Pudong New District People’s Court.

“She could face up to five years in jail if convicted of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble for her reporting”, news agency AFP reported.

Zhan’s reports via live streams and essays went viral on social media platforms in February, irking the authorities.

The administration has punished eight virus whistleblowers so far for criticising the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.