Unheard of since early last year, citizen journalist Fang Bin remains held in Wuhan awaiting court
Fang Bin, the first Chinese citizen journalist who reported on the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic in central China, is being detained at the Jiang’an Detention Center in the city of Wuhan, a local official said on Nov. 24.
The official told The Epoch Times that Fang’s case is in the hands of the Jiang’an District Court.
This is the first time that the outside world has known of Fang’s whereabouts since his arrest on Feb. 9, 2020.
As a businessman in Wuhan City, ground zero of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fang witnessed crowded hospitals and people dying from the disease during January 2020. He also saw how communist authorities were lying about the pandemic.
Despite concerns about being infected or being set upon by the authorities for revealing the truth, Fang shot video footage at hospitals in Wuhan and then, on Jan. 25, 2020, managed to publish them on YouTube, where Chinese censors were unable to reach.
Fang’s videos quickly attracted worldwide attention, allowing people to understand how serious COVID-19 was. His bravery also encouraged several Chinese citizen journalists to join him.
In response to his efforts, the Chinese regime arrested Fang several times between Feb. 1 to Feb. 9, 2020.
On Feb. 9, 2020, Fang released his last video, in which he urged all Chinese people to resist the communist regime.
“Hand the power of the regime back to the people,” Fang said in the video.
Since then, Fang has been missing and family members refuse to say anything about him due to fear of the authorities.
Three other citizen journalists—Chen Qiushi, Li Zehua, and Zhang Zhan were detained in Wuhan at various times last year. Li was released in March 2020, Zhang met her lawyer on June 8, 2020, and was sentenced to four years in prison, while Chen was confirmed alive and safe in September 2020.
Since his arrest, the authorities have not released any information about him.
Fang Is Alive
On Nov. 24, a trusted Wuhan official told The Epoch Times via phone that Fang was alive and his case needed more time to go through legal processes.
The official’s name and position have been withheld for safety reasons.
By Nicole Hao
