A Chinese citizen journalist who vanished three years ago while covering the Wuhan coronavirus lockdown and was eventually identified as being in custody by the government has been freed. Several media reports that were based on people close to the family claimed that Fang Bin was released from custody on Sunday (April 30). According to the sources who spoke to the Guardian, he visited Beijing, where several members of his family reside, before returning to Wuhan on Monday morning, where he is still being closely watched.
As per a Chinese human rights watchdog, Fang was being shuttled back and forth between Beijing and Wuhan because neither city wanted to take responsibility for him.
Everything about Fang Bin
Fang was one of several Chinese citizens who were singled out by the authorities for discussing the events of the first significant COVID-19 breakout and shutdown in public. In February 2020, he and his friend Chen Qiushi, a fellow citizen journalist, vanished from Wuhan.
In a video that was live-streamed on his friend’s YouTube page in September 2021, Chen made a comeback and said that he had been depressed. He gave no information on his absence, reported The Guardian.
Confusing and secretive reports about Fang’s whereabouts made it unclear whether he was being held in custody, living with his parents under supervision, or being watched at a specific location. In China, this type of covert detention entitles authorities to keep a person for up to six months without bringing charges against them. According to reports, his family was afraid to talk.
In a report published on Sunday, the Associated Press cited a source who said Fang had received a three-year prison term for “picking fights and causing trouble,” a general allegation frequently levelled against political dissidents. According to Radio Free Asia, he completed his prison term at a facility in Jiangxia, a district of Wuhan.
For her reporting from Wuhan in December 2020, former attorney turned journalist Zhang Zhan received a four-year prison term on the same accusation. Soon after her detention, Zhang went on a hunger strike, and since then, her supporters have regularly voiced grave worries for her wellbeing.
Zhang’s former attorney claimed to The Guardian in 2021 that the Chinese government had issued Zhang’s sentence as “a warning” and that she was being punished severely in punishment for her activities.
