A military court in Myanmar sentenced American journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years of imprisonment after being detained by the military earlier this year soon after the successful coup against the democratic government of the country.
Danny Fenster was a managing editor of one of the controversial online publications frontier Myanmar he was found guilty of “breaking the country’s immigration law, unlawful association and encouraging dissent against the military government.”
Danny Fenster faced a charge for his previous publications also when he worked for Myanmar now. It is a news outlet that is banned now and was highly critical regarding the military.
Danny Fenster became the first western journalist to be put in jail since the successful military coup on 1st February.
The United States Department showcased its anguish over the jail sentence of American journalist Danny Fenster stating that “the profoundly unjust nature of Danny’s detention is plain for all the world to see.”
The editor-in-chief of Frontier Myanmar Thomas Kean stated “There is absolutely no basis to convict Danny of these charges. 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.”
Several journalists were detained along with civilians during the bloody protests against the military coup in Myanmar which threw the democratic leader and Nobel prize winner Ann Sang Suu Kyi from power and house arrested her.
Myanmar arrested a Japanese freelance journalist with the accusation of spreading fake news against the military government of the country. The Japanese journalist was later on released after a request made by the Japanese government.
The Biden administration has made several attempts for the release of Danny Fenster but all remained fruitless.
The slain democratic government has urged foreign countries to invade and restore democratic government in the country. The United States of America has made several attempts to pressurize the junta by imposing several sanctions on the country but all have gone in vain.
1253 people have lost their lives in the country since the military coup in February. The bloody protests which followed saw more than 10000 people being arrested and their whereabouts are unknown now.
