That video, viewed close to 200,000 times on YouTube, soon drew the attention of the authorities, who went to his flat the same day he posted it.

“Who are you?” Fang asked in a video that shows masked men in hazmat suits waiting at his door. “Just open the door and you will find out,” said one of the men, who also told Fang that they were worried about his health since he had been to the hospitals. Despite Fang’s response that his temperature was normal and a request for the men to show their search warrants, the men broke into his flat and took him to a police station. Fang later told the Los Angeles Times in an interview that the police officers—there were no doctors among them, he said—accused him of receiving foreign funding and told him to stop “posting rumors,” the same accusation that was leveled at Li, the deceased doctor.

Queries to the Wuhan police about Fang and Chen didn’t immediately receive an answer.

Chen shared some of the videos made by Fang, including the one showing the police arrest on Feb. 1, and said in a tweet, “Citizen journalists in Wuhan are awakening, you can’t arrest all of them.”

Fang was soon released by the police, which he believed was thanks to the attention his arrest got inside and outside of China. “I have been saying my safety totally relies on all of you. There is no use being afraid or begging as that will do nothing. That is why I think our movement right now should become: everyone saving each other,” Fang said in a video recorded after his release.

This time, no one can be sure whether Fang or Chen will resurface soon.

Update, Feb. 12: This story was updated on the day of publication with a statement from Human Rights Watch.

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