Zhang Zhan: A Six-Minute Documentary
December 28, 2020
Per request of the filmmaker, who wishes to remain anonymous, China Change posts this short film about Zhang Zhan.
Zhang Zhan (张展), a lawyer who practiced in Shanghai, went to Wuhan in early February, determined to document the coronavirus outbreak in the city that was the epicenter of what would soon become a pandemic around the world. In the three months she stayed in the city, she made 122 posts on YouTube. It was not a coincidence that her first post was “My Claim for the Right of Free Speech.” Zhang Zhan was arrested in May, brought back to Shanghai, indicted in September on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” China’s all-in-one charge for suppressing dissent.
She was tried on Monday, December 28, in Shanghai, and sentenced to four years in prison after a two-hour trial.
Related:
She Chronicled China’s Crisis. Now She Is Accused of Spreading Lies. New York Times, Dec. 25, 2020.
Chinese citizen journalist detained for reporting on Wuhan coronavirus outbreak “may not survive”, December 11, 2020.
The Regret of Wuhan: How China Missed the Critical Window for Controlling the Coronavirus Outbreak, China Change, Feb. 9, 2020.
Going Around Coronavirus-Stricken Wuhan With Fang Bin, Visiting Hospitals, and Being Visited by Police, on February 1, 2020, China Change, February 3, 2020.
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