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A policeman covers a camera to stop journalists from recording footage outside a court, where detained citizen journalist Zhang Zhan – who reported on Wuhan’s Covid-19 outbreak – was set to go on trial, Shanghai, China, 28 December 2020, LEO RAMIREZ/AFP via Getty Images Authorities have attacked, detained, prosecuted, and in some cases killed critics, broken up peaceful protests, closed media outlets, and enacted vague laws criminalizing speech that they claim threatens public health.
This statement was originally published on hrw.org on 11 February 2021.
At least 83 governments worldwide have used the Covid-19 pandemic to justify violating the exercise of free speech and peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities have attacked, detained, prosecuted, and in some cases killed critics, broken up peaceful protests, closed media outlets, and enacted vague laws criminalizing speech that they claim threatens public health. T