A Chinese Christian human rights defender has been given another four-year prison sentence in Shanghai on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

Zhang Zhan, 40, was detained in August 2024 after reportedly traveling to Gansu Province to help a young pro-democracy activist find legal representation.

She later began a hunger strike in protest and was force-fed while held in Shanghai’s Pudong Detention Center.

Zhang had previously served a similar four-year sentence for her citizen journalism in Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak.

She was released in May 2024 but was frequently questioned by police before being taken back into custody three months later.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said her latest sentencing was “deeply disturbing” and urged her immediate release, raising concerns that “independent observers were not allowed to attend her hearing.”

Mervyn Thomas, Founder President of CSW, added: “Once again Zhang Zhan has been sentenced to four years in prison, after over a year in detention already, on completely unfounded charges that are routinely used to silence human rights defenders in China.”