FCC Statement on the Sentencing of American Journalist Danny Fenster in Myanmar

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is alarmed and deeply disturbed by the harsh sentence handed down today in Myanmar to American journalist Danny Fenster. Fenster, who at the time of his arrest in May was the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, was convicted by a court in Yangon on three charges and sentenced to 11 years in jail. The court imposed the harshest possible sentences for those charges, which include an immigration offense and a violation of the unlawful associations act. 

The FCC is additionally concerned about two more serious additional charges for which Fenster is yet to stand trial. 

Since taking power in February, Myanmar’s military harshly cracked down on the media and quickly rolled back the hard fought press freedom gains made over the past decade. The offices of media organizations have been raided by security forces. Some journalists have gone into hiding or fled the country, and of more than 100 arrested journalists, dozens remain in jail for their reporting on the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country. 

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club calls on Myanmar’s government to respect and uphold its stated commitment to press freedom, and to unconditionally release Fenster and other detained journalists.