Li Zehua, one of the 'citizen journalists' who disappeared in Wuhan, reappears

In a YouTube video he says he was arrested by the police and quarantined for a month. He had spoken about Wuhan's crematory ovens, which worked for 19 hours a day in February. There are no reports of two other journalists. During the pandemic, many who criticized the regime disappeared.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Li Zehua, one of the three "citizen journalists" who disappeared in Wuhan, reappeared on April 22 in a video on YouTube. There had been no news of him since February 26. Li, 25, says he was arrested by the police after a car chase through the city streets, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since his arrest, he has spent two weeks in quarantine in Wuhan, and two more in his place of residence (which he does not name). Law enforcement officers accused him of "upsetting social stability". The reporter was told that quarantine was necessary because he had gone to "sensitive" areas.

Millions of people have viewed the videos posted by Li on Chinese social media, Twitter and YouTube, especially those that questioned the official version of the authorities on the number of victims of Covid-19. He said that the Wuhan crematoriums worked for 19 hours a day in February. During that time, two other freelance journalists disappeared in Wuhan: Fang Bin and Chen Qiushi. There is still no news of them.

According to observers, authorities are using the fight against coronavirus to crack down on internal dissent. On April 5, having finished serving 4 years in prison for "subversion against the state," the well-known human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang was placed in quarantine in Jinan (Shandong). To date, he has not been able to embrace his family in Beijing.

Xu Zhiyong, founder of the New Citizens Movement, was arrested on 15 February in Guangzhou (Guangdong) during a "health check" to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Since mid-March there has been no news of Ai Fen, the Wuhan doctor who raised the alarm on the disease. In the same days, Ren Zhiqiang, a billionaire and member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), targeted for having referred to the President Xi Jinping as a "power hungry clown".

Since February there is no news even of Xu Zhangrun and He Weifang. The two intellectuals had criticized the regime, claiming that the lack of press freedom has favored the spread of the coronavirus. A Shandong university student, Zhang Wenbin, disappeared on March 30 after posting a video asking for Xi to resign.