China has criticized UN ” non-official ‘comments on a prisoner in prison | Coronavirus Plague News
UN, human rights groups have urged Beijing to release Zhang Zhan, who was detained for responding to China’s response to COVID-19.
China has strongly criticized the United Nations for demanding the release of a prison journalist for his response to the country’s response to COVID-19.
China’s work in Geneva was outraged on Saturday over what it called “irresponsible” and “wrong” remarks made by the UN’s OHCHR office on Friday in Zhang Zhan’s case.
OHCHR spokeswoman Marta Hurtado on Friday lamented reports that the 38-year-old’s health was deteriorating rapidly and that his life was in serious danger due to starvation in prison.
“We call on the Chinese authorities to consider Zhang’s immediate and unconditional release, at least for the public good, and for the provision of life-saving medical care, respect for his will and dignity,” Hurtado said in a statement.
Zhang, a former lawyer, went to Wuhan in February 2020 to talk about the turmoil that caused the epidemic, and to ask how the authorities had reacted to the epidemic in his smartphone videos.
He was arrested in May 2020 and in December was sentenced to four years in prison for “inciting violence and causing trouble” – a crime that tends to overwhelm dissent.
He has staged several hunger strikes against his conviction, conviction and imprisonment, and his family recently warned him that he was too thin and could “live longer”.
Hurtado said the UN liberation agency has repeatedly complained about Zhang and Chinese officials since their arrest last year.
He wanted to “make clear the charges against him on the basis of what appears to be media coverage”, he said.
‘News’
China has shown its success in keeping COVID-19 home remedies to slow spread.
But there has been a bit of patience with those who are threatening the nation by raising questions about how the government contributed to Wuhan’s spread.
Zhang is one of four national journalists – along with Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua – arrested after reporting from Wuhan.
In a statement on Saturday, Chinese mission spokesman Liu Yuyin emphasized that “China is a law-abiding country, and everyone is equal before the law.”
He lamented that the UN Office for the Elimination of Humanitarian Affairs (Zhang) has “disregarded information provided by China through transparent means,” and instead, “based on false information, chose to interfere with Chinese rule”.
He also highlighted China’s response to COVID-19, insisting that the country’s “findings in response to the epidemic are there for all to see”.
“It ‘s not something that anyone can distort or label, the least bit that OHCHR can throw around”.
Zhang received the Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) 2021 Press Freedom Award for his bravery on Thursday.
“His heartfelt expression on the origin of the epidemic was one of the major health concerns in Wuhan at the time,” the RSF said.
In the meantime, hundreds of human rights lawyers have filed their names in a letter requesting his immediate release because of his illness. About 40 human rights groups have called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Zhang “before it is too late.”
