• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: JOURNALIST WHO INVESTIGATED COVID-19 RE-DETAINED (China 90.24)

October 22, 2024

Zhang Zhan is currently detained at the Pudong New District Detention Centre in Shanghai on charges of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’. She has been targeted for her continued advocacy for human rights following her release from prison on May 13, 2024. Her family has also faced intimidation and threats from the authorities, while the lawyer her family wished to appoint was held for several hours by police.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: February 28, 2025

take action:

  • Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
  • Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 90.24. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

contact information:

Director Ma Xuebo, 

Pudong Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau,

655 Dingxiang Road,

Pudong, Shanghai 200120

People’s Republic of China

CC: Chinese Embassy in the United States

Ambassador Xie Fang

3505 International Place, NW, Washington DC 20008

Phone: (202) 495-2266

Email: [email protected]

sample letter:

Dear Director Ma,

I am writing to express my grave concern for citizen journalist, Zhang Zhan (张展), who is currently detained at Pudong New District Detention Centre on charges of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ (寻衅滋事罪). These charges are baseless; she has merely exercised her right to freedom of expression and to defend the rights of others. 

Efforts by her family to arrange a lawyer have been unsuccessful. After meeting with her family, human rights lawyer, Fan Biaowen, was taken away by Shanghai police and held in custody for nearly eight hours before being released. Zhang’s family have also faced intimidation and threats from the authorities to prevent them from disclosing details of Zhang Zhan’s case to the international community.

Such treatment is deeply concerning given that it comes mere months following her release from prison on May 13, 2024, after serving an unjust four-year sentence.

I therefore call on you to release Zhang Zhan immediately and unconditionally. Pending her release, I ask you to ensure that Zhang Zhan has regular, unrestricted access to family and to the lawyers of her or her family’s choice, and that these lawyers can exercise their rights to defend her effectively. I also call on you to ensure that she is not subject to torture or other ill-treatment and to stop harassing and threatening her family and other human rights defenders who are supporting this case.

Yours sincerely,  

[YOUR NAME]

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: