- Danny Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week Incitement, illegal association and violation of visa regulations.
- On Monday, he was pardoned and released on “humanitarian reasons.”
- Finster released After the “face-to-face negotiations” between former US diplomat Bill Richardson and military leader Min Aung Lai.
An American journalist who has been imprisoned in Myanmar since May was pardoned and deported on Monday. The day before he will face terror and sedition charges that could imprison him for life.
Since the coup came to power in February, the military has been suppressing the press, arresting dozens of journalists criticizing its suppression of dissent. According to local monitoring organizations, the suppression has caused more than 1,200 deaths.
Danny Fenster has been working at the local Frontier Myanmar branch for about a year and was arrested when he returned home to visit his family in May.
Last week, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for incitement, illegal association and violation of visa regulations. He was originally scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday and faces charges of sedition and terrorism-which could put him in prison for life.
But on Monday, the military government stated that he was pardoned and released on “humanitarian reasons”, ending the 176 days spent in colonial-era prisons, where many of Myanmar’s most famous dissidents are being held.
The pictures on the official media showed that the haggard Fenster was walking with US officials, and someone handed him a cell phone for him to talk.
Richardson’s organization said in a statement that the 37-year-old was released after a “face-to-face negotiation” between former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson and military leader Min Aung Lai.
The Richardson Center said Fenster will return to the United States “via Qatar” within the next day and a half.
Read also | The American journalist imprisoned in Myanmar “cares very much about the truth,” a colleague said
In a statement, the family expressed relief at Fenster’s release.
“We are very happy that Danny was released and is on the way home-we can’t wait to hold him in our arms,” the statement said, thanking Richardson for his help.
A photo released by the Richardson Center shows Finster wearing shorts and flip-flops standing in front of a small plane, standing with the former governor of New Mexico on the tarmac in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar.
His colleague Andrew Nachemson at the Myanmar border said:
This is good news for all his friends and family.
“But of course he shouldn’t be in prison for six months… and all local journalists who are still imprisoned should also be released immediately.”
The military government stated that two Japanese envoys Hideo Watanabe and Yohei Sasakawa participated in negotiations to release Fenster, but did not provide details.
-‘Hostage’-
The United States welcomed his release, saying that he was “wrongly detained.”
“We are very happy that Danny will be reunited with his family soon because we continue to call for the release of other people who have been unjustly held in Myanmar,” said U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken, who used his old name in Myanmar.
Richardson visited Myanmar earlier this month, which was called a “private humanitarian mission.”
He said at the time that the US State Department had asked him not to bring Fenster’s case during his visit.
The family said during a conference call with American journalists in August that Fenster is believed to have contracted Covid-19 during his detention.
Richard Horsey, a senior adviser to Myanmar from the International Crisis Group, told AFP, “I doubt if the United States has made any concessions.”
“It’s more likely to explain politely that taking American citizens hostage is a bad idea.”
He added:
It is also important to remember at this moment that many Myanmar journalists who have been unjustly detained must also be released.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in February and removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected civilian government.
According to local monitoring organizations, in the process of suppressing dissidents, security forces arrested more than 10,000 people.
The press has also been squeezed due to the military government’s attempts to tighten control over the flow of information, restrict Internet access and revoke the licenses of local media.
According to the ASEAN monitoring organization report, more than 100 journalists have been arrested since the coup.
It said at least 30 people are still in detention.
The coup stifled Myanmar’s short-lived democratic experiment. Aung San Suu Kyi is now facing a series of charges in the military court. She may be sentenced to decades in prison.
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