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Sentencing of Fenster emblematic of wider plight of journalists in Myanmar: UN
Danny Fenster, 37, is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar magazine. He has been sentenced to 11 years in jail by a military court in Yangon city for violating visa regulations, association with an illegal group and dissent against the military.
The United Nations on Friday condemned the sentencing of American journalist Danny Fenster in Myanmar and urged the authorities to release all journalists who were jailed for practising their profession after the February military coup.
Danny Fenster, 37, is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar magazine. He has been sentenced to 11 years in jail by a military court in Yangon city for violating visa regulations, association with an illegal group and dissent against the military.
Having been in detention since May this year, the American journalist is also facing two additional charges in a different court for violating Myanmar's counterterrorism law and a statute covering treason and sedition.
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations commissioner for human rights, said the sentencing of Fenster was emblematic of a wider plight of journalists in Myanmar who have faced constant repression in the wake of the February coup.
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According to the news agency Associated Press, Fenster is the only foreign journalist to be convicted of a serious crime in Myanmar after the fall of Aung San Suu Kyi's government.
"Journalists have been under attack since 1 February, with the military leadership clearly attempting to suppress their attempts to report on the serious human rights violations being perpetrated across Myanmar as well as the extent of opposition to the regime", Bachelet said, according to an official statement.
She said that at least 126 journalists, media officials or publishers had been detained since the coup and 47 of them continue to be in detention.
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The UN rights chief also pointed out that licenses of as many as nine media outlets had been revoked, while 20 other media houses suspended their operations, the official statement added.
Meanwhile, the United States called Danny Fenster's sentencing a conviction of an innocent person and said that it is working towards his immediate release.
"We are closely monitoring Danny's situation and will continue to work for his immediate release. We will do so until Danny returns home safely to his family," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday.
(With agency inputs)
