Crime & Safety

Former Detroit Journalist Sentenced To 11 Years By Myanmar Court

Former Detroit journalist Danny Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in prison on three charges​ by a Myanmar Court.

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U.S. journalist Danny Fenster works out of his van that he made into a home/office in Detroit. A court in Myanmar on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, rejected the bail application of Fenster, an American journalist jailed for the past five months in Myanmar.
U.S. journalist Danny Fenster works out of his van that he made into a home/office in Detroit. A court in Myanmar on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, rejected the bail application of Fenster, an American journalist jailed for the past five months in Myanmar. (Fenster Family photo via AP, File/AP)

DETROIT — Former Detroit journalist Danny Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in prison on three charges by a Myanmar Court, multiple outlets reported.

The court found Fenster guilty on charges that stem from his news coverage in Myanmar Now, including an incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information, Fenster’s lawyer said.

He was sentenced to the maximum term on each charge and ordered to pay a 100,000 kyat ($56) fine. He is not expected to appeal the court's decision.

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Fenster, 37, was the was the managing editor of the online site Frontier Myanmar after resigning from the Myanmar Now when the banned the media outlet in July 2020.

So by the of his arrest in May 2021, he had not been working at the banned outlet for more than nine months.

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He was also charged with sedition and violations of the terrorism act earlier this week, which are punishable with a maximum 20 years in prison each.

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