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Latest on #ZhangZhan case update: Zhang Zhan's lawyer @wuhanzhangkeke revealed more comments Zhang Zhan made during the trial on Monday. Records show that she directly challenged and criticized the judge and the Chinese legal system on several occasions, insisting that ... https://twitter.com/dw_chinese/status/1344158361311318016
... their decision to put her on trial is wrong and their accusations against her are "ridiculous." When the presiding judge asked her to verify her personal information, Zhang simply responded by saying "Don't you think the fact that you are forcing me to be on the ...
... defendants' stand is wrong? Would your conscience tell you that you've done something wrong?" When the presiding judge asked if Zhang had any objections against the participants on the collegiate panel, Zhang said "I couldn't answer your questions before you correct yourself.
"This is a court to judge you, not the court to judge me. This is your judicial game," Zhang went on to say.
After the presiding judge finished reciting the indictment, he asked Zhang whether all the accusations were true. Zhang responded by saying: "During Han dynasty, defaming the government is not a crime."
When the prosecutor asked Zhang a series of questions about her activities in Wuhan, she responded by saying: "The reason why this country is deteriorating is because of your ridiculous questions."
#ZhangZhan went on to say that the fact that the prosecutor accused her reporting in Wuhan as spreading rumor is an example of how #Beijing is trying to control speech in #China, which she said is damaging the safety of the society.
"The videos I published were all recorded by me and I was recording other people speaking. Others then shared my videos. If the prosecutors want to censor citizens' speech, they can put anyone in court. The fear of this country comes from its distrust in citizens," Zhang said.
From here on, #ZhangZhan didn't say another word throughout the entire trial.
In another set of audio files I obtained from exiled Chinese activist @yangzhanqing, #ZhangZhan told Yang on May 8 that she had been followed and her calls with others were monitored since she got to Wuhan.
Zhang said while her actions and words may not be viewed as a threat by the Chinese government at the time, she was not ruling out the possibility that she could be taken away by the Chinese government one day. 6 days later, she was arrested in Wuhan.
#ZhangZhan told Yang that: "The reason why I'm telling you all of this is because if I was taken away by the police one day, you would know what I have done in Wuhan and how I was doing the things I did in Wuhan."
Yang thinks that the reason why #ZhangZhan becomes the first Chinese citizen journalist to be sentenced and jailed after reporting about the #COVID19 lockdown in Wuhan is because of her insistence not to plead guilty.
" #ZhangZhan's characters and belief are different from Chen Qiushi and Li Zehua. She is a christian so she is very persistent. Since she used to be a lawyer, so even if other people said she has violated the law, as long as she doesn't think she has violated the law, ...
... she would view pleading guilty as an insult. This is why she has refused to plead guilty and going on a hunger strike is one of the most powerful way for her to show her will not to plead guilty. She would rather die than pleading guilty," Yang told me.
