Chinese Covid-19 whistleblower due for release after four years in jail

Chinese authorities have dealt with Zhang Zhan and other critics of its coronavirus policies harshly. - PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters): Authorities in China were expected on Monday to release a citizen journalist jailed for four years after she documented the early phases of the coronavirus outbreak from the central city of Wuhan in 2020.

Zhang Zhan, 40, had travelled to Wuhan in early 2020 from Shanghai where she was based, posting first-hand accounts from crowded hospitals and empty streets that painted a more dire picture of the pandemic than the official narrative.