Chinese journalist jailed for Wuhan virus reporting

Zhang Zhan has been jailed for four years for writing about the development of the Covid-19 pandemic in China

Citizen-journalist Zhang Zhan is seen in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters

A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years on Monday for spreading "false remarks" from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak began, her lawyer said, almost a year after details of the coronavirus was discovered in the central China city.

Zhang Zhan, 37, a former lawyer who arrived at court in a wheelchair, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for "provoking trouble".

Her posts and essays were shared on social media in February, grabbing the attention of authorities.

Beijing has been proud of its "extraordinary" success in controlling the virus inside its borders, with an economy on the rebound while much of the world is still in lockdown with surging case numbers.

But it has been accused of clamping down on freedom of expression in posts on its handling of the health emergency.

The court said Zhang spread false remarks online but the prosecution did not fully divulge its evidence in court, said one of her lawyers, Zhang Keke.

In return the defendant "didn't respond ... she refused to answer when the judge asked her to confirm her identity".

Concerns are mounting over the health of Zhang, who began a hunger strike in June and has been fed through a nasal tube.

Her legal team said she suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain.

The sentencing comes just weeks before an international team of World Health Organisation experts is expected to arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19.

Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government "didn't give people enough information, then simply locked down the city".

"This is a great violation of human rights," she wrote.

Rights groups and embassies have also drawn attention to Zhang's case.

"Zhang Zhan's case raises serious concerns about media freedom in China," the British embassy in Beijing said.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet tweeted: "We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to Covid-19 and continue to call for her release."

Zhang is the first of four citizen journalists detained by authorities after reporting from Wuhan to face trial.