A Chinese citizen journalist who is in jail for reporting on the pandemic in Wuhan, Hubei province, has won another award for her contribution to human rights issues in mainland China.

Zhang Zhan was honored on Friday with the 21st “Young China Human Rights Award,” which was set up years ago by a group of about 20 Chinese students who went into exile in the United States following the 1989 Beijing Tiananmen Square massacre.

She was sentenced to four years in jail in December on a conviction of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” after she traveled to Wuhan city early last year to capture the plight of its people during the COVID-19 outbreak and criticized local authorities for negligence and attempts to cover up a disease that was spiraling out of control.

Zhang received two awards last month: the Difference Day Honorary Title for Freedom of Expression from Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Université libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium, and the 2020 Lin Zhao Freedom Award by the American human rights organization ChinaAid.

Wang Dan, the convenor of the selection committee for the latest prize, on Wednesday announced Zhang as the winner, Radio Free Asia reported.

He said that the committee tried a different selection method this year. It shortlisted three candidates and put up the names on Twitter to invite voting, attracting the participation of nearly 400 people, he said.

“We believe that Zhang’s extraordinary courage and determined resistance have not only inspired Chinese people at home and abroad, but have also drawn strong attention from the international community,” Wang said.

“The Chinese Communist Party authorities’ brutal persecution of Zhang has exposed their sins of covering up the truth and censoring speech, which has prompted strong condemnation from other countries.”

Earlier on May 30, Wang introduced the origins of the prize. His group of around 20 exiled activists would donate money every year  and pick out contributors to human rights work in mainland China.

Besides Zhang, Beijing publisher Geng Xiaonan, academic Xu Zhangrun and another citizen journalist, Li Zehua, were on the final list this time. Like Zhang, Li had visited Wuhan to cover the COVID-19 situation and was detained at one point.

Geng allegedly conducted illegal business operations, while Xu was a former law professor of Tsinghua University who was accused of soliciting prostitutes.

Jin Yan, a member of the selection committee, said the award was set up to support young democrats in China who fought for social progress, so that more people would be encouraged to stand against the autocratic regime. The committee also hoped to awaken the masses and bring about a free, modern and democratic society for the Chinese people as soon as possible.

Jin said that they had contacted Zhang’s family about the award. Since the authorities were prohibiting family visits, they would tell her the news at the first opportunity to encourage her in jail, Jin added.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play