US journalist whose arrest triggered diplomatic row released
American journalist Danny Fenster, who was sentenced to 11 years in jail by a Myanmar court, has been released and is heading home.
“Frontier Myanmar’s Managing Editor Danny Fenster has been released from prison in Myanmar today and is on a flight out of the country,” the journalist’s employer announced on Twitter.
The Yangon-based magazine thanked everyone who had helped to secure Fenster’s release but noted that he was just “one of many” journalists in Myanmar “who have been unjustly arrested simply for doing their job” since the February military coup, which saw Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her closest supporters deposed and arrested.
Former US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson, meanwhile, published a photo of himself with Fenster.
Governor Bill Richardson and the Richardson Center are thrilled to announce the release of American journalist Danny Fenster from prison in Myanmar. pic.twitter.com/kBGvlY8e1G
— Richardson Center (@RichardsonCNTR) November 15, 2021
“Danny’s release was secured following a private humanitarian visit by Governor Richardson to Myanmar and face-to-face negotiations with General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s Commander in Chief,” the Richardson Center said in a statement.
Fenster is flying to the United States via Qatar and will reunite with his family in a day and a half, according to the organization.
The American was sentenced to 11 years in prison on November 12 on several charges, including spreading misinformation and violating immigration law. The court decision came several months after his arrest at Yangon International Airport, from where he had hoped to fly to the US to see his family.
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