Two NGOs warn that the life of a renowned jailed Chinese activist is in danger

The life of journalist and former human rights lawyer Zhang Zhan, detained for more than a year in her country for trying to report on the initial moments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, is in danger due to the serious deterioration of her health in recent months, two NGOs have warned.

Zhang, who began a partial hunger strike in June to protest his arrest, “now weighs less than 40 kilos and cannot walk without help,” the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Torture said in a statement. Human Rights (FIDH).

Forcibly fed through a gastronasal tube, “her health is very fragile, as she suffers from severe malnutrition, suffers from a gastric ulcer and has swollen legs and feet,” said the two NGOs, which together form the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

Zhang, whose release was already demanded by the European Union, was sentenced to four years in prison in December 2020 for “provoking altercations and creating problems,” a crime that, along with subversion, is frequently applied to dissidents and critics of the Chinese communist regime.

The journalist was arrested on May 14 of last year, a day after publishing a video in which from Wuhan she accused the authorities of negligence when taking measures to contain the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19, whose first cases were registered at the end of 2019 in that central Chinese city.

She had previously practiced as a lawyer, although her license was suspended for her activism, and she had previously been arrested for supporting protests in Hong Kong.

According to OMCT and FIDH, Zhang’s relatives have been denied almost any possibility of communicating with her, and during a year and a half of deprivation of liberty they have only been able to speak with her by telephone or videoconference on three occasions.

In the months of July and August, she was hospitalized due to deteriorating health problems, at which time she was tied to the bed and force-fed, to be taken back to the Shanghai Women’s Prison, where she continues serving sentence.

“We are deeply concerned about the state of health and the risk of death that Zhang runs, so we ask the authorities to be immediately and unconditionally released, giving him the appropriate medical treatment,” concludes the statement from the NGOs.