Zhang Zhan, who exposed China's mishandling of Covid, is close to death in jail: Family

Chinese citizen journalist, Zhang Zhan, who exposed reality of coronavirus outbreak in China’s Wuhan is critically weak and close to death due to her ongoing hunger strike, her family has reported.

Zhan, a 38-year-old former lawyer gained attention from Chinese authorities when she travelled to Wuhan in February 2020 to report on the pandemic centres from the epicenter of Covid, Wuhan. Through her reports, she questioned the handling of the pandemic by the Chinese authorities.

Using her mobile phone, she recorded and shared shocking evidence of bedridden Covid patients who were lined up in hospital corridors in the beginning of the pandemic in Wuhan. She was also manhandled and intimidated by police officers and other Chinese officials who tried to stop her from recording and sharing these videos and images.

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As expected, China did not let her investigation go on for too long. Her mission came at a great cost and she was detained by Chinese authorities in May 2020. After being detained for nearly seven months, in December she was then sentenced to jail for four years on the charges of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".  

Upon her arrest, she started a hunger strike to protest the inhumane and illegal treatment being given to her. "By not eating, she wants to protest against the illegal nature of her treatment," said Zhang Keke, a member of the legal team representing Zhang. "She believes that not eating is a way to tell them they are wrong."

Her lawyer had also claimed that she was being forced fed through nasal tubes.

However, her family has now claimed that she is now severely underweight and there are higher chances that she "may not live for much longer".

"Zhan is 177cm tall, now she has less than 40 kg wt. She may not survive the coming cold winter. I hope the world remember how she used to be," her brother Zhang Ju reported through his Twitter account.

Calling it a 'shameful attack on human rights', Amnesty International has reiterated on the importance of immediate release of the former lawyer. "Release her immediately so that she can end her hunger strike and receive the appropriate medical treatment she desperately needs," the human rights organisation said in a statement.

"If Zhang Zhan dies in prison, her blood will be on the Chinese government's hands," Amnesty campaigner Gwen Lee said.