The Chinese diplomatic mission in Geneva called the arguments presented Friday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) “irresponsible” and “flawed” to demand the release of Zhang Zhang, 38.
“We call on the Chinese authorities to assess Zhang’s immediate release, even if only for humanitarian reasons, and to provide emergency medical assistance with respect for his will and dignity,” OHCHR spokeswoman Martha Hurtado urged in a statement.
Zhang Zhang was detained after quarantining Wuhan, central China, the first city in the world to be diagnosed with COVID-19 cases and on the brink of death, he warned his family earlier this month.
The citizen journalist went on a hunger strike after he was sentenced to four years in prison at the end of 2020 for “creating public disorder,” an accusation often used in China against political dissidents.
In February 2020, a former Shanghai lawyer traveled to Wuhan to report on the situation in the city of 11 million, just days after the strict regime began.
Images of patients bedridden in the corridor of a crowded hospital, then released by a citizen journalist, provided a rare glimpse of the city’s sanitation.
On Thursday, Amnesty International also called on the Chinese Communist regime to release Zhang Zhan immediately.
In addition to Zhang Zhan, at least three other independent journalists, Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Jiehua, have been arrested after covering the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.
