Overview

• Rights groups RSF and a human-rights network said a Shanghai court issued the four-year sentence on Friday for “seeking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
• Security forces blocked access to the courthouse for diplomats, journalists and activists, according to reports.
• Zhang, a former lawyer who reported from Wuhan on the early COVID-19 outbreak via YouTube and X, previously lost her law license.
• She was first detained in May 2020 and received a four-year sentence that December related to her Wuhan reporting.
• After being freed in May 2024, she reportedly disappeared in August and was taken back into custody before this new term.