The US journalist Danny Fenster has been sentenced to 11 years in prison with hard labour by a court in military-ruled Myanmar after he was found guilty on a series of charges including incitement.
Fenster, who is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, an independent outlet that has covered the military coup extensively, was arrested in May 2021 at Yangon international airport. He was due to fly back home to Michigan, where he planned to surprise his parents.
He is the only foreign journalist to be convicted of a serious offence since the military seized power in February, and his detention has been widely condemned by rights groups, press freedom advocates and the US government.
Fenster, 37, appeared in court on Friday wearing blue PPE, and cried as he was told of the sentence, according to his lawyer, U Than Zaw Aung. No observers were allowed in the courtroom.
He was sentenced to three years for incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information, three years for contacting illegal organisations and five years for violating visa rules.
Fenster will face two further charges under the anti-terrorism act and under a sedition law. Either case could result in a life sentence, according to his lawyer.
The Myanmar military, which has killed more than 1,200 people since taking power, has sought to crush all independent media. It has arrested dozens of journalists, stripped media outlets of their licences, and imposed multiple internet blackouts to hamper the flow of information.
Than Zaw Aung said Fenster had told him before the hearing that a police officer had said he would be sent back home. “[Fenster] asked me whether it was true or a joke. But when he actually heard about the sentence, that it is 11 years, he was in shock. He told me that he was angry and he didn’t want to stay in prison for 11 years. He looked worried.”
After the sentencing, Than Zaw Aung said he told Fenster to stay calm. They weren’t able to speak together for very long, he added, because officials spent time taking Fenster’s records and fingerprints. Fenster had lost weight, he said, and his hair and beard had grown longer.
“An 11-year sentence is the highest punishment for each case. It is inappropriate that a journalist got sentenced like this. It shouldn’t have happened that way,” said Than Zaw Aung.
A spokesperson for the US state department denounced the sentence and called for Fenster’s release.
“We strongly condemn the regime’s sentencing of Danny Fenster. The ruling today represents an unjust conviction of an innocent person,” the spokesperson said. “Journalism is not a crime. Free and independent media is indispensable to building prosperous, resilient and free societies.”
The charges against Fenster were based on the allegation that he was working for Myanmar Now, a banned media outlet, in the aftermath of the February coup. However, Fenster had resigned from Myanmar Now in July 2020 and joined Frontier Myanmar the next month, Frontier Myanmar said.
He had been working for Frontier for more than nine months by the time of his arrest in May 2021, the publication said. “The court disregarded a significant amount of evidence of his employment at Frontier, including tax and social security records and testimony from a Frontier employee,” it said in a statement.
Thomas Kean, Frontier’s editor-in-chief, said: “There is absolutely no basis to convict Danny of these charges. His legal team clearly demonstrated to the court that he had resigned from Myanmar Now and was working for Frontier from the middle of last year.
“Everyone at Frontier is disappointed and frustrated at this decision. We just want to see Danny released as soon as possible so he can go home to his family.”
Than Zaw Aung said that, prior to the court hearings, he had not had sufficient opportunity to talk with Fenster. He had previously represented Reuters journalists in 2018, who were jailed after their reporting of atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims. Even then, he said, he was able to meet the journalists in prison.
Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns, described the sentencing as “a reprehensible outcome in a case that has been deeply flawed from the start”.
“Danny has done nothing wrong, but has somehow been charged with multiple alleged offences that are completely out of touch with reality and his work as an independent journalist. The court also ignored reams of evidence showing where he worked and records of his time in the country. He should be immediately and unconditionally freed and all charges dropped,” she said.
“His case has illustrated the enormous increase in risks and challenges faced by journalists in Myanmar since the military seized power on 1 February. But despite internet blackouts, legal threats and detentions, they continue to courageously report on the dire situation in Myanmar.”
Shawn Crispin, the south-east Asia representative of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, also called for Fenster’s immediate and unconditional release. “Myanmar must stop jailing journalists for merely doing their job of reporting the news,” he said.
