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US journalist jailed in Myanmar lands in New York

Journalist

American journalist Danny Fenster managing editor of online magazine Frontier Myanmar, was convicted of spreading false or inflammatory information, contacting illegal organizations, and violating visa regulations, has now safely landed in New York with the efforts of former U.S. Diplomat Bill Richardson. Fenster said that it feels incredible to be back home on American soil, as he and his parents had a sweet reunion at the airport, and that his return was a “long time coming”. Original story by the Associated Press:

While jailed Fenster believed he had contracted COVID-19, though Myanmar officials denied that  

NEW YORK (AP) — American journalist Danny Fenster, who was freed after nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, arrived Tuesday in the United States for an emotional reunion with his family.

In this photo provided by the Myanmar Military True News Information Team, released American journalist Danny Fester, centre, poses next to former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson, third from left and members of his team at the Naypyitaw Airport in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. Fenster, who was recently sentenced to 11 years of hard labor after spending nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, has been freed. A former U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the release said Fenster was on his way home Monday. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)

Fenster, who was sentenced last week to 11 years of hard labor, was handed over Monday to former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson, who helped negotiate the release. He is one of more than 100 journalists, media officials or publishers who have been detained since the military ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February.

In this photo provided by the Richardson Center, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson, right, poses with journalist Danny Fenster in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. Fenster, sentenced only days ago to 11 years of hard labor in military-ruled Myanmar, was freed and on his way home Monday, a former U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the release said. (The Richardson Center via AP)

Fenster said it “feels incredible” to be home as he arrived in New York. It’s been a “long time coming, a moment I had been imagining so intensely for so long. Surpasses everything I had imagined.”

His mother, Rose, rushed over to hug him as he stepped out of a car at the airport. A bearded Fenster said the first thing he would do is get a shave and a haircut.

While jailed, Fenster told his lawyer that he believed he had COVID-19, though prison authorities denied that. Late Monday, as he transited through Qatar, he told reporters that he was physically OK and had not been starved or beaten while in custody.

In this photo provided by the Myanmar Military True News Information Team, released American journalist Danny Fester writes on a document while seated between two police officers at the Naypyitaw International Airport in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. Fenster, who was recently sentenced to 11 years of hard labor after spending nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, has been freed. A former U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the release said Fenster was on his way home Monday. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)

Fenster, the managing editor of online magazine Frontier Myanmar, was convicted Friday of spreading false or inflammatory information, contacting illegal organizations and violating visa regulations. Days before the journalist was convicted, he learned he had been charged with additional violations that put him at risk of a life sentence.

FILE – This photo provided by the family courtesy shows Danny Fenster posing for a photo in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2020. Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson said Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, American journalist Fenster has been released from prison in Myanmar. (family courtesy photo via AP, File)

“We are so grateful that Danny will finally be able to reconnect with his loved ones, who have been advocating for him all this time, against immense odds,” Richardson, a former governor of New Mexico and past ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement on Monday.

Fenster has been in detention since he was arrested at Yangon International Airport on May 24.

American journalist Danny Fenster, who spent nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar and was facing a sentence of 11 years of hard labor, has been freed , talks to media at Doha, Qatar airport, Monday Nov 15, 2021. U.S. On the right is diplomat Bill Richardson, who helped negotiate the release, (AP Photo/Luis Costa)

“We are overjoyed that Danny has been released and is on his way home — we cannot wait to hold him in our arms,” his family said in a statement.

The exact allegations against Fenster were never clear, but much of the prosecution’s case appeared to hinge on proving that he was employed by another online news site that was ordered closed this year during the crackdown on the media that followed the military takeover. Fenster used to work for the site but left that job last year.

A native of the Detroit area, Fenster has a master’s degree in creative writing from Wayne State University and worked for a newspaper in Louisiana before moving to Southeast Asia, according to Deadline Detroit, a news website to which he occasionally contributed.

FILE – Buddy, from left, and Rose Fenster, and their son Danny Fenster pose for a photo in Huntington Woods, Mich., in 2014. Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson says American journalist Danny Fenster has been released from prison in Myanmar.(family courtesy photo via AP, File)

His brother, Bryan Fenster, has said he was particularly interested in the plight of people from the Muslim Rohingya minority, hundreds of thousands of whom fled Myanmar during a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the army in 2017.

The generals in Myanmar “were convinced that it wasn’t worth it to hang on to Danny,” U.S. Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan, who represents the Fenster family in Congress, told Detroit radio station WWJ. “If they kept him and anything really happened to him, we would never forget it. We would never forgive them.”

By TED SHAFFREY and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN

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