U.S. journalist Danny Fenster released from prison in Myanmar just days after getting 11-year sentence
The U.S. journalist sentenced last week to 11 years of hard labor in a Myanmar prison was released Monday in a surprise move.
Danny Fenster, a 37-year-old Detroit native and managing editor of the online magazine Frontier Myanmar, was found guilty of spreading false or inflammatory information that could be harmful to the military, contacting illegal organizations and violating visa regulations. He was handed the maximum sentence for such crimes.
“This is the day that you hope will come when you do this work,” said former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson, who took credit for Fenster’s release after face-to-face negotiations with General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief.
“We are so grateful that Danny will finally be able to reconnect with his loved ones who have been advocating for him all this time against immense odds.”
Richardson is currently in Myanmar and expected to fly back to the U.S. with Fenster in the next few days.
Fenster was arrested at Yangon International Airport on May 24 as he was trying to leave the country to visit his family in the U.S. He had been held in Insein Prison in Yangon since then after being denied bail.
“We are overjoyed that Danny has been released and is on his way home — we cannot wait to hold him in our arms,” his family said in a statement. “We are tremendously grateful to all the people who have helped secure his release, especially Ambassador Richardson, as well as our friends and the public who have expressed their support and stood by our sides as we endured these long and difficult months.”
Since the military takeover of Myanmar in February, at least 126 journalists, media officials or publishers have been detained there, according to the United Nations. Of those, 47 are still detained and 20 have been charged.
“We welcome the release of American journalist Daniel Fenster from prison in Burma, where he was wrongfully detained for almost six months,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“We are glad that Danny will soon be reunited with his family as we continue to call for the release of others who remain unjustly imprisoned in Burma.”
With News Wire Services
