3 yıl önce

US urges release of journalist in Myanmar after terror, sedition charges

Danny Fenster, 37, is already on trial for allegedly encouraging dissent against the military, unlawful association and breaching immigration law.

Reuters

Danny Fenster, was arrested as he was heading home to see his family in May and has been held in Yangon's Insein prison since.

The United States has urged Myanmar's junta to immediately free American journalist Danny Fenster after he was hit with sedition and terrorism charges that could carry life in prison.

"Danny should be released immediately. His continued detention is unacceptable. Journalism is not a crime," a State Department spokesperson said after the charges on Wednesday.

"The profoundly unjust nature of Danny's detention is plain for all the world to see, a State Department spokesperson told AFP.

Danny Fenster, who had been working for local outlet Frontier Myanmar for around a year, was arrested as he was heading home to see his family in May and has been held in Yangon's Insein prison since.

The 37-year-old is already on trial for allegedly encouraging dissent against the military, unlawful association and breaching immigration law.

The additional charges under Myanmar's anti-terror and sedition laws open Fenster up to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The trial is scheduled to begin on November 16.

Press clampdown

The Southeast Asian country has been mired in chaos since the military ousted the elected government, with the junta trying to crush widespread democracy protests and stamp out dissent.

The military has tightened control over the flow of information, throttling internet access and revoking the licences of local media outlets.

Several journalists critical of the military government were among those released last month in an amnesty to mark a Buddhist festival.

More than 100 journalists have been arrested since the putsch, according to Reporting ASEAN, a monitoring group.

It says 31 are still in detention.

The coup snuffed out the country's short-lived experiment with democracy, with civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi now facing a raft of charges that could see her jailed for decades.

SOURCE: AFP