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 of Burma, facing the Burmese, but also facing foreign nationals, including Americans who happen to be in Burma,” Price said at the time. “The profoundly unjust nature of Danny’s detention is plain for all the world to see and these charges only put a further spotlight on that. Again, the regime should take the prudent step of releasing him now.”
According to The Times, Fenster could be facing additional time in jail at some point. “Two new charges of terrorism and sedition were filed against him this week, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years. His lawyer said he was baffled by those charges and had yet to see any evidence supporting them,” The Times noted.
The editor-in-chief of Frontier Myanmar, where Fenster works, commented on the harsh ruling.
“His legal team clearly demonstrated to the court that he had resigned from Myanmar Now and was working for Frontier from the middle of last year,” he said.
“Everyone at Frontier is disappointed and frustrated at this decision,” he added. “We just want to see Danny released as soon as possible so he can go home to his family.”
In February, the military took control of the country, which has led to months of violence as protesters pushed back against the takeover earlier this year.