The Chinese journalist who reported from Wuhan, the epicenter of the Covid-19, during the early stages of the Coronavirus outbreak has been sentenced to four years in jail, Reuters reported.

Zhang Zhan, 37, was found guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a charge used by the Chinese government against the critics, Reuters reported citing her lawyer Zhang Keke, who attended her hearing at a Shanghai court on Monday.

“I don’t understand. All she did was say a few true words, and for that, she got four years,” said Shao Wenxia, Zhang’s mother.

Zhang’s lawyer Ren Quanniu told Reuters: “We will probably appeal,” adding that the trial at a court in Pudong, a district of the business hub of Shanghai, ended at 12.30 p.m.

“Ms. Zhang believes she is being persecuted for exercising her freedom of speech,” he had said before the trial.

In early 2020, Coronavirus spread in the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, and soon the virus spread worldwide.

According to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University, so far, more than 80.8 million people around the world have been infected with the virus and over 1.76 million have died of the virus.