WAN-IFRA, RSF, and CPJ call for immediate release of Danny Fenster after U.S. journalist is sentenced to 11 years by Myanmar court

“We call for Danny Fenster’s immediate release and for all charges to be dropped in what is a clear act of intimidation against the embattled independent press in Myanmar,” said Andrew Heslop, WAN-IFRA Executive Director for Press Freedom. “These baseless charges are designed to instil fear and to discourage media from doing their work. Furthermore, we condemn the implication that Danny is being used in political brinkmanship in response to US sanctions against the Myanmar regime. That any journalist should be targeted like this is wholly unacceptable.”

“With five charges, including one that could result in his spending the rest of his days in one of Myanmar’s prisons, the treatment reserved by the junta for Danny Fenster clearly constitutes persecution,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “This journalist is paying a high price for his commitment to press freedom in Myanmar. We demand his immediate and unconditional release.”

 “We regret today’s harsh ruling against journalist Danny Fenster, call for his immediate and unconditional release, and for all charges pending against him to be dropped,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar must stop jailing journalists for merely doing their jobs of reporting the news.”

Danny Fenster, a U.S. citizen, was arrested by security forces at Yangon international Airport in the last week of May. In the special court hearing in Insein Prison, Denny Fenster was found guilty of three charges and faces up to 11 years in prison. 

New, more serious charges of sedition and violations of the terrorism act were added earlier this week, which are punishable each by a maximum 20 years in prison