Details of Zhang Zhan's trial: She repeatedly fought back, leaving the judge speechless

Reporter : Zhu Ying / Editor : Yun Tao / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/12/31/a103021940.html / Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Image : On December 28, 2020, two pro-democracy activists holding a photo (left) and a poster (right) of Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist, called on the Beijing authorities to release Zhang Zhan and 12 Hong Kong residents. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Chinese citizen reporter Zhang Zhan was sentenced to 4 years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking troubles" for filming and publishing videos of the Wuhan epidemic. The international community has expressed concern over this and demanded that the Chinese authorities release her unconditionally. On Wednesday (30 December), Zhang Zhan’s defense lawyer disclosed to the outside world what she said during the court trial.

In the morning of the 28 December 2020, the Shanghai Pudong New District Court of the Communist Party of China sentenced Zhang Zhan to four years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Zhang Zhan’s defense attorney disclosed to the outside world on 30 December that Zhang Zhan was silent most of the time during the trial, and that she had spoken back several times during the period.

According to the lawyer’s disclosure, when the presiding judge verified Zhang Zhan’s personal information, Zhang did not answer her personal information, but questioned the presiding judge, “Don’t you think you pushed me to the dock, your conscience will tell you this is wrong. Is it?" The presiding judge was speechless on the spot, not knowing how to respond.

At the stage when the collegiate panel informed the parties about their rights and obligations, the presiding judge announced the list of the collegiate panel and prosecutors and asked Zhang Zhan what she thought. Zhang Zhan responded, "Until you correct your mistakes, there is no way to answer. This is the court where you will be tried, not the court where I will be tried."

When the presiding judge continued to inform the litigants and defenders of their litigation rights, Zhang Zhan interrupted and said, "This is your judicial game."

When the prosecutor finished reading the indictment, the presiding judge asked Zhang Zhan: "Is it true? Answer directly." Zhang Zhan replied: "During the Han Dynasty, it was not guilty to slander the government."

When the public prosecutor asked when Zhang Zhan entered Wuhan, whether she had released relevant information through Twitter and YouTube, and accepted interviews with overseas media, Zhang Zhan replied, "The decline of this country is precisely because you have these absurd problems."

When the defender Ren Quanniu asked Zhang Zhan's opinion on the indictment, Zhang Zhan responded that the government's accusation against the people was inherently wrong, because it meant that every sentence of the citizens would be reviewed by the government. The prosecutor accused her of spreading rumours, but the videos she shot recorded or reposted others' words. She emphasized that it is this kind of speech control that makes society insecure, and "the fear of the country comes from distrust of the people."

After the verdict of the Zhang Zhan case, the attorney Ren Quanniu told the media that the case may be appealed. He said that Zhang Zhan believed that the real reason for his arrest was "exercising the right to freedom of speech."

In February 2020, when the epidemic in Wuhan was at its worst, Zhang Zhan entered Wuhan for field interviews and shooting. She went to hospitals, communities, police stations and many other places on the front line of the epidemic in Wuhan to film the real situation there, and then posted the interview video clips to her YouTube channel. On 14 May, Zhang Zhan said in her last report on the epidemic on her YouTube channel, “The way of urban management mainly relies on intimidation and intimidation. This is really the sadness of this country.”

An anonymous lawyer told Radio Free Asia that Zhang Zhan has been detained for more than seven months and has been fighting in two ways: one is to use a hunger strike to protest against her arrest, persecution and trial; the other is to refuse to answer questions. She expressed her protest against the so-called trial in silent protest.