Zhang Zhan Judgment Accuses Her of "Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble"
HRIC has translated the 2025 judgment and sentencing of Zhang Zhan, lawyer-journalist imprisoned for covering the COVID-19 pandemic
In September 2025, journalist Zhang Zhan was unjustly sentenced to another four years in prison for her work defending human rights. Her judgment and sentencing document has now been made publicly available for the first time. Human Rights in China has translated the full text into English, below.
Zhang Zhan is an independent journalist, former lawyer, and steadfast defender of human rights. After expressing her support for Hong Kong in 2019, she was detained and sentenced to four years in prison in 2020 after she bravely traveled to Wuhan to report on the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. While in prison, she was tortured and went on hunger strike to protest her arbitrary detention. When she was hospitalized in 2023, she had lost half of her original body weight.
Zhang Zhan was released in May 2024. In August 2024, she was re-detained after she traveled to Gansu to show solidarity with other human rights defenders. Over a year later, in September 2025, she was sentenced to four more years in prison on vague charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
Human Rights in China strongly condemns the arbitrary imprisonment of journalists and human rights defenders for exercising their right to expression. Zhang Zhan must be released immediately and without reservation.
As of November 2025, Zhang Zhan has been transferred to Shanghai Women’s Prison to serve her second four-year sentence, and has been denied access to her family and legal representation.
Read the full judgment below in English and Chinese.
Pudong New District People’s Court of Shanghai
Criminal Judgment
(2025) Shanghai, Pudong New District People’s Court, First Instance Criminal Case, Case No. 286
The prosecuting authority is the Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Procuratorate.
The defendant is Zhang Zhan, female, born on September 2, 1983, in Sanyuan County, Shaanxi Province, Han ethnicity, with a master’s degree, unemployed, registered residence at [redacted], Pudong New District, Shanghai. In August 2018, she was given a warning for using the internet to spread incitement to subvert state power; in April 2019, she was administratively detained for ten days for picking quarrels and provoking trouble; in November 2019, she was administratively detained for ten days for disrupting public order; in December 2020, she was sentenced to four years imprisonment for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and was released on May 13, 2024; she was criminally detained on August 29, 2024, on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, was formally arrested on November 18 of the same year, and is currently detained at the Pudong New District Detention Center in Shanghai.
Defense attorney Zhang Kai, lawyer at Beijing Kaimen Law Firm.
Defense attorney Zeng Yue, lawyer at Beijing Kaimen Law Firm.
The Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Procuratorate, in Shanghai Pudong Procuratorate Criminal Indictment No. Z1 (2025), charged the defendant Zhang Zhan with the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and filed a public prosecution with this court. This court accepted the case on January 26, 2025, and, in accordance with the law, followed ordinary procedures, forming a collegial panel and holding a public hearing. The Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Procuratorate appointed Prosecutor Xue Song to appear in court to support the prosecution. The defendant Zhang Zhan and her defense lawyers Zhang Kai and Zeng Yue appeared in court to participate in the proceedings. During this period, the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court approved a three-month extension of the trial period for this case. The prosecution recommended a one-time postponement of the trial, which the court agreed to and granted. The trial has now concluded.
The Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Procuratorate alleged that:
From June to August 2024, the defendant Zhang Zhan disseminated a large amount of content on the overseas social media platforms “X” (formerly Twitter) and YouTube that was insulting to others, as well as false information that seriously damaged the image of the nation, causing serious disruption to public order. To substantiate the above charges, the prosecution read aloud and presented evidence in court, including the defendant’s confession, relevant expert opinions, and documentary evidence. Based on the above, the prosecution argued that Zhang Zhan should be held criminally liable for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and requested the court to adjudicate the case according to law.
The defendant, Zhang Zhan, denied the charges brought against her. The defense argued that the evidence presented failed to demonstrate that the defendant subjectively possessed the motive or intent to commit a crime, nor did it prove that she objectively engaged in disorderly behavior and disrupted social order; therefore, the defendant’s actions did not constitute a crime.
Upon review, it was determined that:
From June to August 2024, the defendant Zhang Zhan disseminated a large amount of false information on overseas social media platforms, causing serious disruption to public order. On August 28 of the same year, Zhang Zhan was apprehended by the public security authorities.
The above facts are substantiated by the following evidence, which was presented and examined during trial and confirmed by this court:
1. The forensic appraisal report and work report from Zhongpu Jianyuan (Shanghai) Information Technology Co., Ltd. Forensic Appraisal Institute confirmed that the Institute documented the content of the webpage involved in the case, as well as relevant data such as views, comments, and shares.
2. A statement issued by the Shenzhen Funeral Home confirmed that the situation described by the defendant in the live broadcast was not found to be true.
3. The search warrant, search record, seizure decision, seizure record, and seizure list issued by the public security authorities confirm the circumstances under which the public security authorities seized mobile phones and other items from the defendant.
4. The case details and arrest report issued by the public security authorities confirm the occurrence of the case and the defendant’s arrest.
5. Relevant administrative penalty decisions, criminal judgments, and release certificates, which confirm the defendant’s prior criminal record.
6. Relevant household registration information to confirm the defendant’s identity.
7. The defendant Zhang Zhan’s confession and other statements confirm that she admitted during the investigation of this case that the account in question was used by her and that the content in question was posted by her.
This court finds that the defendant, Zhang Zhan, disseminated a large amount of false information on the internet, causing trouble and making a disturbance, resulting in serious disruption of public order. Her actions constitute the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. The charges brought by the public prosecutor are established. The defendant’s denial of the crime and the relevant arguments of her defense counsel are inconsistent with the facts and legal provisions proven by the evidence on record, and this court does not accept them. The defendant, Zhang Zhan, was previously sentenced to imprisonment for a crime, and within five years of completing her previous sentence, she committed another crime punishable by imprisonment, thus constituting recidivism which should be punished more severely according to law. Therefore, in accordance with Article 293, Paragraph 1, Item (4), Article 65, Paragraph 1, and Article 64 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, and Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Handling of Defamation through Information Networks and Other Criminal Cases, the following judgment is rendered:
I. Defendant Zhang Zhan is guilty of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and is sentenced to four years in prison.
(The term of imprisonment shall be calculated from the date the judgment is enforced. If the defendant has been detained prior to the enforcement of the judgment, one day of detention shall be credited against one day of imprisonment, i.e., from August 28, 2024 to August 27, 2028.)
II. The tools used in the crime that were seized shall be confiscated in accordance with the law.
If you disagree with this judgment, you may, within ten days of the day after receiving a copy of the judgment, file an appeal through this court or directly with the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court. For written appeals, one original and two copies of the appeal petition must be submitted.
Presiding Judge Bai Yanli
Judge Chen Wei
Judge Xi Yanyun
[Stamp: Pudong New District People’s Court of Shanghai]
September 19, 2025
Court Clerk She Xiaomin
上海市浦东新区人民法院
刑事判决书
(2025)沪0115刑初286号
公诉机关上海市浦东新区人民检察院。
被告人张展，女，1983年9月2日 陕西省三原县，汉族，硕士研究生文化，无业，户籍地上海市浦东新区____路____号；2018年8月因利用国际互联网传播煽动颠覆国家政权行为被处警告，2019年4月因寻衅滋事行为被处行政拘留十日，2019年11月因扰乱公共场所秩序行为被处行政拘留十日，2020年12月因犯寻衅滋事罪被判处有期徒刑四年，2024年5月13日刑满释放；因涉嫌犯寻衅滋事罪于2024年8月29日被刑事拘留，同年11月18日 被逮捕，现羁押于上海市浦东新区看守所。
辩护人张凯，北京凯门律师事务所律师。
辩护人曾玥，北京凯门律师事务所律师。
上海市浦东新区人民检察院以沪浦检刑诉(2025) Z1号起诉书指控被告人张展犯寻责滋事罪，向本院提起公诉。本院于2025年1月26日立案，依法适用普通程序，组成合议庭，公开开庭审理了本案。上海市浦东新区人民检察院指派检察员薛松出庭支持公诉，被告人张展及被告人张凯、曾玥到庭参加诉讼。其间，经上海市第一中级人民法院批准，本案延长审理期限三个月。公诉机关建议延期审理一次，本院同意并决定延期审理。现在审理终结。
上海市浦东新区人民检察院指控：
2024年6月至8月，被告人张展在境外社交软件“X”(原推特)和Youtube(油管)上大量散布辱骂他人信息和严重损害国家形象的虚假信息，造成公共秩序严重混乱。为证实上述指控，公诉机关当庭宣读并出示了被告人供述、相关鉴定意见、书证等证据，据此认为，应当以追究滋事罪追究张展的刑事责任，提请法庭依法审判。
被告人张展否认指控的罪名。辩护人提出在案证据无法反映被告人主观上具有犯罪的动机和目的，亦无法证实其客观上实施了寻衅滋事的行为并破坏了社会秩序，故被告人行为不构成犯罪。
经审理查明：
2024年6月至8月，被告人张展在境外社交平台上大量散布虚假信息，造成公共秩序严重混乱。同年8月28日，张展被公安机关抓获到案。
上述事实，有经庭审举证、质证，本院予以确认的下列证据证实：
1. 中浦鉴云(上海)信息技术有限公司司法鉴定所司法鉴定意见书及工作情况等，证实鉴定机构就案涉网页内容及相关查看量、评论数、转发数等进行固定等情况。
2. 深圳殡仪馆出具情况说明，证实未发现被告人直播中所述的情况。
3. 公安机关出具的搜查证、搜查笔录、扣押决定书、扣押笔录、扣押清单，证实公安机关从被告人处扣押手机等物品的情况。
4. 公安机关出具的案发及抓获经过，证实本案的案发及被告人到案情况。
5. 相关行政处罚决定书、刑事判决书、释放证明，证实被告人的前科劣迹情况。
6. 相关户籍资料，证实被告人身份情况。
7. 被告人张展的供述等，证实其曾于本案侦查阶段承认案涉账号为其使用，案涉内容为其所发。
本院认为，被告人张展在信息网络大量散布虚假信息，起哄闹事，造成公共秩序严重混乱，其行为已构成寻衅滋事罪。公诉机关指控的罪名成立。被告人否认犯罪的辩解及辩护人的相关的辩护意见，与在案证据证实的事实及法律规定不符，本院不予采纳。被告人张展曾因犯罪被判处有期徒刑，在刑罚执行完毕后五年内再犯应当判处有期徒刑以上刑罚之罪，系累犯，依法应从重处罚。据此，依照《中华人民共和国刑法》第二百九十三条第一款第（四）项、第六十五条第一款、第六十四条、《最高人民法院、最高人民检察院关于办理利用信息网络实施诽谤等刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释》第五条第二款之规定，判决如下：
一、被告人张展犯寻衅滋事罪，判处有期徒刑四年。
（刑期从判决执行之日计算，判决执行以前先行羁押的，羁押一日折抵刑期一日，即自2024年8月28日起至2028年8月27日止。）
二、扣押在案的作案工具依法予以没收。
如不服本判决，可在接到判决书的第二起十日内，通过本院或直接向上海市第一中级人民法院提出上诉。书面上诉的，应当提交上诉状正本一份，副本两份。
审判长 白艳利
审判员 陈玮
审判员 奚燕云
[盖章: 上海市浦东新区人民法院]
书记员 佘晓民
