After mediation
US journalist Danny Fenster free again in Myanmar
Buddy and Rose Fenster and their son Danny Fenster (from left to right). Photo: private / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
American journalist Danny Fenster had been in the Insein torture prison in Myanmar since the end of May. A few days after his conviction, he has now been released – thanks to a prominent mediator.
The US journalist Danny Fenster, who has been imprisoned in Myanmar for five and a half months and only sentenced to eleven years in prison a few days ago, has been surprisingly released.
The 37-year-old came out of custody after a “private humanitarian visit” by former US diplomat Bill Richardson in the crisis country and personal negotiations with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, a statement said on Monday. “This is the day you hope will come if you do this job,” said Richardson, who has mediated hostage-taking in the past.
Fenster, a senior editor of the English-language magazine “Frontier Myanmar”, was arrested at Yangon airport in late May just before the flight to the United States. Since then, he has been in the Insein Prison in the largest city of Yangon, which is notorious for its torture methods.
It was only on Friday that Fenster was sentenced to eleven years in prison. The verdict dealt with three charges, including incitement to riot. In the past week, the judiciary in the crisis country had also brought charges against him on two other points – terrorism and riot. In the opinion of his lawyer, he was threatened with life imprisonment for this. The military junta in Myanmar has been cracking down on all critical voices since the coup in early February.
“Danny and the Richardson team will start their long journey home via Qatar in the next day and a half and are looking forward to reuniting Danny with his parents Buddy and Rose and his brother Bryan in the US,” said the email spread the message.
“We are relieved that Danny is finally out of prison – a place where he should never have been at all,” said his boss at “Frontier Myanmar”, Thomas Kean, in a first reaction. At the same time, Fenster is just one of many journalists who have been in custody since the coup for doing their job. “We call on the military regime to release all journalists who are behind bars in Myanmar,” said Kean.
The military in Myanmar overthrew the de facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. The 76-year-old is under house arrest and also has to answer for various alleged offenses in court. The junta suppresses all resistance with brutal violence. Around 1260 people have already been killed, according to estimates by the prisoners’ aid organization AAPP. More than 10,000 others were arrested, including many journalists. Others fled the country. However, foreign media representatives have long been considered relatively safe.