The managing editor of Frontier Myanmar has been freed from jail by the country’s ruling military junta, just days after he was handed a 11-year sentence by a military court.
Danny Fenster is now on a flight out of the country, the news site said in a statement.
He had been arrested on May 24 at Yangon International Airport just before he was due to board a flight to Malaysia. He was accused of working with a now-banned media organisation, Myanmar Now, though Frontier Myanmar says he resigned from there in July 2020. He has been with Frontier Now since August 2020.
Fenster had also been charged with additional crimes including that of terrorism, for which he was due to face trial on November 16. The additional charges could have resulted in a life sentence.
The US State Department had condemned his arrest, calling it an “unjust conviction of an innocent person”.
The US later sent former ambassador and hostage negotiator Bill Richardson to Myanmar, where he met with the junta’s leader and discussed delivery of COVID-19 vaccines via COVAX to Myanmar, besides discussing other humanitarian measures.
"This is the day that you hope will come when you do this work," Richardson said. "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."
At least 126 journalists, media officials or publishers have been detained by the military since last year’s coup against the Aung San Suu Kyi regime, according to UN Human rights chief Michelle Bachelet. Over 9,700 people were arrested overall on political charges, AP reported.
Besides Fenster, six other journalists were convicted of various charges.
