It was the first Western journalist to be detained for years in Burma, where the generals took over the power after spilling Aung San Suu Kyi.
Le Monde with AP and AFP
After one hundred and seventy-six days in prison, the American journalist Danny Fenster will return to the United States. He was released and will be expelled from the country shortly, said Monday to the France-Presse agency (AFP) a Burmese government source. “It is certain that it is released, but we did not contact him and can not say anything for the moment,” said Frontier Myanmar Sonny Swe Editor.
His release was obtained by Bill Richardson, the former Governor of New Mexico and Energy Secretary in the Clinton Administration, and US Ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Richardson asserts that he has negotiated this release during a visit to Burma, during which he had head-to-face interviews with General Min Aung Hlaing, the military leader who overthrew the elected government of AUNG San Suu Kyi. The two men discussed the delivery of Vaccines against CVIV-19 and medical equipment.
Sentenced at eleven years in prison
37 years old, the journalist, who works for the Myanmar Frontier magazine, was arrested on May 24 at Rangoun International Airport while attempting to leave the country, and was detained near Rangoun, The economic capital, in the insein prison with many political prisoners. He was the first Western journalist to be detained for years in Burma. Other foreign journalists held by the junta were for shorter periods, including the American Nathan Maung, which was released in June, two weeks after the arrest of Danny Fenster. Beat and deprived of water for several days during his interrogation, Mr. Maung believes that US diplomacy allowed his release.
Friday, November 12, Mr. Fenster had been sentenced to eleven years in prison “for incentive to dissent, illegal association and violation of the visa law,” said AFP his lawyer, Than Zaw. He had to appear on Tuesday in front of a court for terrorism and sedition, and incur that life prison.
The UN and the United States had called the Burmese junta to free it, without delay. “Journalists have been attacked since February 1, with the military leaders who are clearly trying to prevent them from informing about the serious violations of human rights perpetrated throughout Burma. But also on the extent of the opposition to the regime, “said Friday Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner of the United Nations to Human Rights, asking the Junta to” immediately release “Danny Fenster. American diplomacy had also demanded its release, believing that “today’s verdict represents an unfair conviction of an innocent person”.
Muzzle press
Burma has fallen in chaos from the military putsch of the which ended a ten-year democratic parenthesis. The plan continues a bloody repression against its opponents with more than 1,200 civilians killed and more than 7,000 in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. This local NGO reports cases of torture, rape and extrajudicial executions.
The press is muzzled by the junta which tries to strengthen its control of information, limiting access to the Internet and canceling the media licenses. More than 100 journalists have been arrested from Putsch, according to Reporting Asean, a rights defense association, which emphasizes that 31 of them are still in detention.
“It’s a fantastic new for Danny and his family,” said Richard Horsey, the Burma specialist at the NGO International Crisis Group, according to whom “he had nothing wrong and would never have had to suffer this hell “. “It is also important right now to remember the many Burmese journalists who are unfairly detained, and who must also be released,” he added.
