A citizen journalist who reported from Wuhan during the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic has been reportedly charged by Chinese authorities.
Former lawyer Zhang Zhan - who travelled to Wuhan in early February - stands accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble" through her reporting on the outbreak.
During her time on the ground in Wuhan she posted what she saw on social media, including Twitter and YouTube, platforms which are both blocked in China but accessible by using virtual private networks.
Ms Zhang also penned an article critical of the Chinese government’s strict response to the outbreak, raising allegations authorities were covering up the true scale of the epidemic.
Zhang uploaded videos from Wuhan to Twitter and YouTube, platforms that are blocked in China. Source: YouTube
The citizen journalist was detained by Shanghai police in May, two days after her last uploaded Youtube video.
Local media is reporting Zhang was charged on 19 June and is being held in the Pudong Detention Center.
“I’m very worried about her health and the detention conditions, and her mother is heartbroken,” Zhang’s 63-year-old father told the South China Morning Post.
“We don’t have any connections or money to get her out – we’re in an utterly powerless situation.”
Citizen journalists missing
As the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan worsened, a small number of citizen journalists travelled to the city to report on the worsening situation.
At least two of them have gone silent on social media over the past four months.
Activist Chen Qiushi, 34, arrived in Wuhan in late January, aiming to “document what is really happening”.
“I promise I won’t...cover up the truth,” he told viewers in his first YouTube video.
Mr Chen visited hospitals and spoke to locals, patients and medical workers.
Citizen journalists Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin have been missing for over four months after reporting from Wuhan Source: YouTube
He shared his reports to an audience of 433,000 YouTube subscribers and 246,000 Twitter followers.
But since 6 February he has reportedly not been seen and one of his friends has alleged Mr Chen was forcibly quarantined by Chinese authorities.
Another citizen journalist, businessman Fang Bin has been missing since early February.
He had posted a widely-viewed video appearing to show corpses being piled into a minibus at a Wuhan hospital.
But his social media accounts have been silent since 9 February, when he posted a video with the words "all people revolt - hand the power of the government back to the people."
The Chinese government has not formally acknowledged the existence or the whereabouts of the two men.
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