American journalist jailed for 11 years in Myanmar

GBNEWS24DESK//

An American journalist, who has been detained in Myanmar since May, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of unlawful association, incitement and breaching visa rules, his employer said, reports Reuters.

“Frontier Myanmar is deeply disappointed at the decision today to convict its Managing Editor, Danny Fenster, on three charges and impose prison sentences totalling 11 years,” the outlet said in a statement.

Fenster, 37, was arrested while trying to leave the country in May and has since been held in Yangon’s notorious Insein prison.

The sentence was confirmed to Reuters by lawyer Than Zaw Aung, who provided no further details.

It was handed down for incitement and breaches of immigration laws and unlawful associations laws, Frontier Myanmar, said.

New, more serious charges of sedition and violations of the terrorism act were added earlier this week, which are punishable each by a maximum 20 years in prison.

“There is absolutely no basis to convict Danny of these charges,” said Thomas Kean, Frontier Myanmar’s editor-in-chief.

“Everyone at Frontier is disappointed and frustrated at this decision. We just want to see Danny released as soon as possible so he can go home to his family.”

The United States has been pushing for Mr Fenster’s release.

The US embassy in Myanmar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for the ruling military council could not immediately be reached.

Myanmar has been in chaos since a military coup in February that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

More than 1,200 civilians have been killed and scores of journalists are among thousands who have been detained amid a backlash to military rule, according to activists cited by the United Nations.