Famous human rights defender Zhang Zhan, sentenced to four years, spends her 43rd birthday in prison

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On September 2, 2026, this outlet learned that today, September 2, 2026, is the 42nd birthday of renowned human rights defender Zhang Zhan, who spent her birthday in prison.

More than two years ago, on May 13, 2024, Ms. Zhang Zhan was released from prison for the first time, after which she continued to support rights defenders through social media; in August 2024, she traveled alone to Gansu and persuaded Zhang Pan’cheng’s mother to sign a power of attorney; she was subsequently arrested. After her arrest, the authorities subjected her to a psychiatric evaluation; while in detention, she again went on hunger strike in protest and was force-fed by the detention center. She was later sentenced to another four years in prison.

Zhang Zhan’s arrest attracted considerable international attention. The authorities continue to block information about Zhang Zhan’s case by various means, leaving few details of the case known to the outside world. This outlet will continue to follow Ms. Zhang Zhan’s situation.

Zhang Zhan’s biography: Female, born on September 2, 1983, from Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, a resident of Pudong New Area, Shanghai, formerly an executive at a securities company in Shanghai, a former practicing lawyer, citizen journalist, human rights defender, and political prisoner in China.

Early on, she studied finance at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics and obtained a master’s degree; beginning in 2010, she left her hometown to seek employment in Shanghai; she once willingly gave up a high-paying position at a securities company in pursuit of freedom and ideals; she worked as a lawyer but was later retaliated against for publishing articles online criticizing current affairs and was forced to leave the legal profession; dissatisfied with the political situation under the Chinese Communist Party authorities, she for a long time published comments on online platforms criticizing “one-party dictatorship,” corruption and abuse of power, among other issues, and because her content was sharp and highly targeted, she was repeatedly interviewed, summoned and threatened by Shanghai police;

Since 2019, because she extensively reposted videos and graphic materials relating to Hong Kong’s “anti-extradition” protests on WeChat and other social media applications, and especially because she stood under an umbrella on the streets of Shanghai demanding an end to the socialist system and the resignation of the Communist Party, among other things, she was criminally detained by Huangpu District police in Shanghai on September 9, 2019, on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” During this period, she was forcibly subjected to two “psychiatric evaluations” and was not released on bail pending trial until November 26;

Since the beginning of 2020, following the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic, she traveled to Wuhan despite the risks to conduct an on-the-ground investigation and report on the epidemic in order to obtain firsthand data; this action soon aroused the extreme displeasure of the Chinese Communist Party authorities and led to a rapid crackdown;

On May 14, 2020, she was taken away by Wuhan police from a temporary lodging hotel and the next day was criminally detained by Pudong New Area police in Shanghai on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”; on June 19, she was formally arrested by the Pudong New Area Procuratorate; on September 18, her case was transferred to the Pudong New Area People’s Court in Shanghai; on December 28, 2020, the court sentenced her at first instance to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” with her sentence ending on May 13, 2024; it was learned that her family’s requests to visit her in prison had long been refused; because she staged a prolonged hunger strike in prison in protest, she was force-fed, leaving her in an extremely weakened physical condition. Zhang Zhan had previously been serving her sentence at the Shanghai Women’s Prison.

On August 25, 2024, she traveled to Gansu to rescue Zhang Pan’cheng, and was again arrested by the authorities on August 28 and criminally detained. She was formally arrested on November 18, 2024. She was subsequently prosecuted, and her trial was held at the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court on September 19, 2025, where the court announced its verdict: she was found guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and sentenced to four years in prison. Her sentence runs until August 28, 2028. She had previously been detained at the Pudong Detention Center. She has now been transferred to the Shanghai Women’s Prison.

This outlet will continue to follow Zhang Zhan’s situation in prison.