American Journalist Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison By Myanmar Court

A U.S. journalist was sentenced to prison for 11 years by a court in military-controlled Myanmar on Friday. 

As reported by Reuters, Danny Fenster is a 37-year-old American journalist and “managing editor of online magazine Frontier Myanmar.” He “was found guilty of incitement and violations of immigration and unlawful associations laws, his magazine said and described the sentences as ‘the harshest possible under the law.’”

Fenster was arrested on May 24 “at Yangon International Airport as he was preparing to board a flight out of the country. He has been held at Insein Prison, which is notorious for its harsh treatment of political prisoners,” The New York Times reported. He is reportedly the only known American to be held in Myanmar. 

A main issue in the case surrounded news, written by Myanmar Now, that the court decided was possibly damaging to the military, “and that it violated the unlawful association law because it included comments from members of an outlawed opposition group.”

“By breaking those laws, the court said, Mr. Fenster had violated the terms of his visa, leading to his conviction on the immigration charge,” the outlet added. 

Lawyer Than Zaw Aung said the Myanmar court “blames Danny for the news written in Myanmar Now but failed to mention which stories in Myanmar Now caused Danny to be charged.”

Fenster has also not worked for the outlet for over a year, a fact that was essentially ignored by the court.

Than Zaw Aung said Fenster started crying when he heard his sentence. “He said he never thought of spending 11 years in prison in his life,” he noted. 

Fenster was not going to appeal the decision due to the fact that “the orders came from above and it would not matter whether he appealed or not,” according to the lawyer.

The United States has been vocal against the treatment of Fenster, but the question remains as to whether or not it will take further action. 

“The ruling today represents an unjust conviction of an innocent person,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email to Reuters. “We are closely monitoring Danny’s situation and will continue to work for his immediate release.”

Last week, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We remain deeply concerned over the continued detention of Danny Fenster. He was working as a journalist in Burma when he was detained.” 

“His detention, the detention of so many others is a sad reminder of the continuing human rights, humanitarian crisis facing the country

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases