It was a morning like any other in Pudong, the vast district of Shanghai that sprang up east of the Huangpu River in the 1990s. Residents hurried toward public transport as usual, weaving between the central business district's skyscrapers. Only the reinforced police presence, both plainclothes and uniformed officers, made it clear that a sensitive trial was about to take place in a courthouse located in this major neighborhood, at 9 am on Friday, September 19. Once again, the justice system was about to crack down on Zhang Zhan, a human rights activist. The four-year prison sentence she had already served for traveling to Wuhan to report on the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic had not silenced her.

The indictment stated that she was a repeat offender for the "crime of provoking trouble and disturbing public order." The document did not mention any extenuating circumstances. Outside the courthouse, eight Western diplomats and two foreign media outlets tried to attend the hearing, but, after officials meticulously checked their documents, they were not allowed to enter.

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