Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan jailed for 4 years for reports on coronavirus
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan has been sentenced to four years in jail months after her arrest for reporting on coronavirus. The 37-year-old was arrested in May while reporting from Wuhan.
Zhang was last month charged with disseminating false information. On Monday afternoon, Zhang’s lawyer said she had been sentenced to four years in jail.
According to reports, Zhang, a former lawyer, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court.
Zhang's live reports and essays were circulated widely on social media platforms in February. It drew attention of Chinese authorities are she was arrested.
Zhang through her reports criticised the China government's response to the pandemic.
Notably, China has congratulated itself for "successfully" containing the spread of virus in the country. The novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan and has spread throughout the world, causing a pandemic. The virus has infected 86,976 people in China and claimed 4,634 lives. However, there are reports that China has suppressed the data and that the figures are higher than reported by the government.
The virus has infected over 8 million people worldwide and killed 1.76 million.
