Was Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison, Myanmar Military Regime Frees American Journalists

JAKARTA - American journalist Danny Fenster said he was healthy and happy to be home after being released from prison in Myanmar and flown to Qatar on Monday, following negotiations between former US diplomat Bill Richardson and the ruling military regime.

Fenster, the managing editor of the independent online magazine Frontier Myanmar, looked frail three days after he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sedition and violation of laws on immigration and unlawful assembly, where he has been held since last May.

He told reporters on the tarmac at Hamad International Airport in Doha that he felt healthy and had not been beaten or starved while in detention.

"I feel amazing and very happy on the way home. I'm so happy for everything Bill has done," explained Fenster, who wore a red wool hat, baggy pants, and a white COVID-19 mask, after flying to Doha with Richardson on a jet, citing Reuters 16 November.

"You just get a little crazy and the longer it drags on, the more worried you get that it's never going to end. That's the biggest worry, stay sane through it."

Asked if he was mistreated, he said: "I was arrested and detained for no reason, so I think so. But physically, I am healthy. I am not starving or being beaten."

Myanmar's military-owned Myawaddy TV said Danny Fenster had been granted amnesty following requests from Richardson and two Japanese representatives "to maintain friendship between countries and to emphasize humanitarian reasons".

Fenster is among dozens of media workers detained in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, causing widespread public anger over the sudden end to a decade-long tentative move to democracy by the Myanmar military regime, accusing many media outlets of inciting and spreading false information.

A source with knowledge of Richardson's trip to pick up Fenster said it was arranged without the knowledge of the State Department or the US embassy in Yangon. Officials initially opposed Richardson's visit to Myanmar earlier this month and urged him not to take the case to Myanmar officials, the source said.

Prior to his release, some State Department officials feared involvement, Richardson could delay his release by leading the junta to see the Americans as assets to try to get concessions.

Nevertheless, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised US officials as well as Richardson. Blinken said Washington would "continue to call for the release of others who remain unjustly imprisoned."

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday the former governor was "not acting at the direction of the US government" in Myanmar, but officials had been in regular contact with Richardson and his team.

US officials including the President's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens are also working to free the journalist, Price said.

The United Nations hailed Fenster's release as a "positive step" but called for at least 47 other detained journalists to be released immediately, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York, United States.

Meanwhile, Fenster said efforts to secure the release of other journalists would continue.

"We will stay focused on them as much as possible and do everything we can to lobby on their behalf. We are still trying very hard to get them out of there," he said.

Separately, Fenster's editor-in-chief, Thomas Kean, expressed relief that he had been released, and said he was one of many journalists "unjustly arrested just for doing their job" in Myanmar.

Fenster's brother, Bryan, said the family was very happy.

"We can't wait to hug him. We are so grateful to everyone who has helped secure his release," he said.

According to the rights group, the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), about 10,143 people have been arrested since the coup and 1,260 people have died in the violence in Myanmar, most of them in a crackdown by security forces on protests and dissent.

Fenster is the first Western journalist in years to be sentenced to prison in Myanmar, where the coup against the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has thrown the country into chaos.

Meanwhile, Richardson, a former governor of New Mexico, US secretary of energy, and US ambassador to the UN, visited Myanmar in a humanitarian capacity on November 2, offering COVID-19 assistance.

He is one of the few foreigners to have met junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Myanmar since the coup, and says his discussions with the government on humanitarian issues and vaccines have helped secure Fenster's release.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.