Detained US journalist sentenced to 11 years in jail by Myanmar court

A Myanmar court on Friday sentenced detained US journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years in prison. He was found guilty on several charges, including incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information. The hearings on the original three charges have been held at the court in Yangon’s Insein Prison.

Fenster was the managing editor of the online magazine Frontier Myanmar. He was also found guilty of contacting illegal organizations and violating visa regulations, lawyer Than Zaw Aung said.

The US journalist was detained since May. He is still facing two additional charges in a different court for allegedly violating the counterterrorism law and a statute covering treason and sedition.

Fenster was detained at Yangon International Airport on May 24 when he was about to board a flight to the Detroit area in the United States to see his family.

He is the only foreign journalist to be convicted of a serious crime since the army seized power in February, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military-installed government has cracked down hard on press freedom. It has virtually shut down all critical outlets and arrested about 100 journalists, roughly 30 of whom remain in jail.

Some of the closed outlets have continued operating without a license, publishing online as their staff members dodge arrest.

The army takeover was met by widespread peaceful protests. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has detailed the deaths of more than 1,200 civilians, in addition to about 10,000 arrests.

Fenster’s next challenge is the two additional charges that his lawyer said Monday had been filed in a different court in Yangon.

Than Zaw Aung said one of the new charges comes under a section of the Counterterrorism Act that is punishable by from 10 years to life in prison.

The other charge under the penal code is usually referred to as treason or sedition, and carries a penalty of seven to 20 years’ imprisonment.

(With inputs from Associated Press)