Danny Fenster, an American journalist who was detained in Myanmar since May, has now been sentenced to 11 years in prison. A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Friday detained sentenced detained Fenster to 11 years in prison after finding him guilty on several charges including incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information.
His charges include unlawful association, incitement against the military, and breaching visa rules. Recently, Fenster was hit with new criminal charges.
Fenster, 37-year-Old was detained at Yangon International Airport on May 24 as he was about to board a flight to go to the Detroit area in the United States to see his family.
He is the only foreign journalist to be convicted of a serious crime since the army seized power in February, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“Frontier Myanmar is deeply disappointed at the decision today to convict its Managing Editor, Danny Fenster, on three charges and impose prison sentences totaling 11 years,” the outlet said in a statement.
“Everyone at Frontier is disappointed and frustrated at this decision. We just want to see Danny released as soon as possible so he can go home to his family.”
Crisis Group Myanmar senior advisor Richard Horsey has described this as “outrageous.” While speaking to AFP, he said, “It sends a message not only to international journalists… but also Myanmar journalists that reporting factually on the situation is liable to get them many many years in prison.”
Fenster was arrested at the airport when he was trying to leave the country to see his family, living in the US.
The US had urged Myanmar to immediately free the journalist after he was hit with the charges. Fenster happens to be one of the 100 journalists who have been detained since the military seized power.
(With inputs from agencies)
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