American journalist in Burma Danny Fenster, sentenced to 11 years in prison by the junta. Photo undated and distributed June 4, 2021 by the journalist’s family (Fenster Family / -)
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The UN and the United States have called on the Burmese junta to immediately release an American journalist detained for nearly six months and sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison, against a background of strangulation of the press since the coup d’état of February in Burma.
“Danny Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in prison for incitement to dissent, illegal association and violation of visa law,” his lawyer Than Zaw Aung told AFP, adding that his client had not yet decided whether or not to appeal.
In separate proceedings, he is charged with terrorism and sedition and faces life imprisonment.
American journalist in Burma Danny Fenster, sentenced to 11 years in prison by the junta. Photo undated and distributed June 4, 2021 by the journalist’s family (Fenster Family / -)
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“Journalists have been under attack since February 1, with military leaders clearly trying to prevent them from reporting on the serious human rights violations being perpetrated across Burma, but also on the scale of it. ‘opposition to the regime, “denounced Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Friday, asking the junta to” immediately release “Danny Fenster.
American diplomacy also demanded his release, believing that “today’s verdict represents an unjust conviction of an innocent person”.
Danny Fenster, 37, is the first Western journalist to be detained in years in Burma, where the generals returned to power after toppling civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February.
Frontier Myanmar, one of the country’s main independent media outlets, of which the journalist was editor-in-chief, said it was “deeply disappointed” in a statement.
“We just want him to be released as quickly as possible so that he can return home and reunite with his family.”
Solicited, a spokesman for the junta was not available to comment on this information.
– “Scandalous” sentence –
This sentence is “scandalous and unacceptable (…) the accusations have been fabricated”, reacted Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia department of Human Rights Watch, Ming Yu Hah at Amnesty International speaking of “a case flawed from the start “.
A man wears a T-shirt calling for the release of Danny Fenster, an American journalist imprisoned in Burma, on June 5, 2021 in Huntington Woods, Michigan, United States. (AFP / JEFF KOWALSKY)
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“This regime does not respect any rule,” commented Richard Horsey of the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank. “It is a big setback for American diplomacy” which is deploying a lot of efforts to try to obtain the release of Danny Fenster.
This conviction comes a few days after a meeting between the former American diplomat Bill Richardson and the head of the junta Min Aung Hlaing.
The two men discussed the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines and medical supplies.
Bill Richardson, who declined to give more details, said the US State Department asked him not to bring up the journalist’s case during this visit.
Danny Fenster, 37, was arrested on May 24 at Yangon International Airport as he tried to leave the country.
Since then, he has been detained in the economic capital at Insein prison with many political prisoners.
His trial is taking place behind closed doors within the confines of the penitentiary establishment.
Danny Fenster, who contracted Covid-19 in custody according to his family, has lost a lot of weight, according to his lawyer.
To justify his conviction, the court provided information from the Ministry of Information, which is entirely controlled by the junta. The latter claims that Danny Fenster, at the time of his arrest, was working for a local media outlet, Myanmar Now, whose license was withdrawn shortly after the coup, said Than Zaw Aung.
– Strangled press –
Burma has sunk into chaos since the February 1 putsch that ended a 10-year democratic parenthesis.
Demonstration against the February coup in Burma, November 10, 2021 in Rangoon (AFP / -)
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The military regime continues a bloody crackdown on its opponents with more than 1,250 civilians killed and more than 7,000 in detention, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local NGO that reports cases of torture, rape and extra-judicial executions.
The press is strangled by the junta, which tries to strengthen its control over information, limiting access to the internet and canceling media licenses.
More than 100 journalists have been arrested in recent months, according to Reporting ASEAN, an association for the defense of rights. 31 are still in detention.
Under house arrest since his arrest at dawn on February 1, Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, is the subject of a multitude of legal proceedings.
Since June, she has been tried, behind closed doors, for illegal importation of walkie-talkies, violation of restrictions related to Covid-19, sedition, corruption, incitement to public unrest, etc.
She faces long years in prison if found guilty.
Many observers denounce a political trial aimed at neutralizing the winner of the 2015 and 2020 elections.
At the end of October, Win Htein, an 80-year-old close collaborator, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for treason.
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