Myanmar court sentencing journalist to 11 years in jail
American journalist Danny Fenster has by a Myanmar court been sentenced to 11 years in prison on multiple charges including incitement, unlawful association, and visa violations. “Myanmar must stop jailing journalists for merely doing their jobs of reporting the news”, says Shawn Crispin, Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) in Southeast Asia.
“We regret today’s harsh ruling against journalist Danny Fenster, call for his immediate and unconditional release, and for all charges pending against him to be dropped.”
The trial was held at Yangon’s Insein Prison, where Fenster is being detained, and was closed to the press and public, according to the Associated Press. Fenster’s lawyer, Than Zaw Aung, told the AP the sentence was the maximum term of each charge.
Fenster, managing editor of the local Frontier Myanmar online magazine, was arrested on May 24 at Yangon International Airport on his way to Detroit, Michigan, in the US.
He also faces terrorism and sedition charges, which carry maximum 10- and 20-year prison sentences, respectively, according to news report and the CPJ. His trial on those charges will begin on November 16, CPJ said.
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