Coronavirus: China sets trial date for citizen journalist Zhang Zhan
- Family fears for Zhang’s health amid hunger strike and force-feeding
- Shanghai court to hear case later this month against the former lawyer
A court document sent to Zhang’s lawyers on Wednesday said Zhang was charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – an apparent reference for her reporting activities in Wuhan 10 months ago
Zhang is being held in a detention centre in Pudong and went on the hunger strike soon after her arrest in mid-May to protest against her “unlawful detention”, according to the sources, who were warned not to speak to the media.
She is the first “citizen journalist” to face trial for reporting on the pandemic in Wuhan and has refused to admit any wrongdoing.
“[Zhang] refused to plead guilty and insisted that, contrary to the accusations of prosecutors, her reporting in Wuhan was based on facts from people [in Wuhan] and not fabricated,” one of the sources said.