Former lawyer Zhang Zhan travelled to Wuhan, the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak, to report on the crisis in early February. She questioned whether the authorities' response to the epidemic infringed on human rights. She spoke up for Dr Li Wenliang and questioned whether the severity of the outbreak had been covered up. She was deeply concerned about those ordinary, voiceless Wuhan citizens who face destitution, having lost livelihoods in Covid-19. When the other three citizen journalists Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua disappeared one after another, the brave lady courageously carried on, until Shanghai police took her away from her hotel room in Wuhan on 14 May.

In early September, RFA reported that Zhang Zhan had been put on a drip after starting a hunger strike in Pudong Detention Center. It is common practice for China's prisons to subject prisoners on hunger strikes to force-feeding, which is an extremely unpleasant and humiliating ordeal. She was previously arrested in Shanghai in Sept. 2019 for her support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. She suffered from severe mistreatment during her 65 days in detention. Her family and friends are now very worried about her health and detention conditions.

Zhang Zhan has been charged for public disturbance and her case has been sent to Pudong District Court. However, everything she said or did is completely legal according to China's own law. She was only sharing what she saw and heard in Wuhan. The Court should start proceedings without delay, dismiss the malicious prosecution and acquit Zhang Zhan immediately. China, please stop persecuting citizens who exercise their civil rights and speak the truth.

前律師張展于2月初趕往武漢肺炎病毒爆發地武漢，報導疫情危機。她質疑當局對疫情的回應措施是否侵犯人權。她為李文亮醫生發聲，並質疑當局是否掩蓋疫情的嚴重性。她對那些失去生計而貧困潦倒、不能發聲的普通的武漢人深感關切。當另外三名公民記者陳秋實、方斌和李澤華相繼失踪時，這位勇敢的女性仍舊堅守，直到5月14日上海警方將她從武漢的旅館帶走。

9月初RFA報導，張展在浦東看守所絕食輸液，身體虛弱。中國的監獄普遍對絕食者進行强迫灌食，這是一種極可怕、屈辱的折磨。她曾因支持香港反送中運動而於2019年9月在上海被捕，在被拘留的65天中遭受嚴重的虐待。張展的親友現在非常擔心她的健康和拘留所中的情況。

張展被起訴「尋釁滋事」，其案件已送交浦東新區法院。但是，根據中國自己的法律，張展的所有言行是完全合法的。她不過是分享在武漢所見所聞。法院應毫不拖延地開庭審理，駁回惡意起訴，並立即無罪釋放張展。中國，請不要再迫害行使公民權利並講真話的公民！