American journalist Danny Fenster was freed from a Myanmar prison following negotiations between former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson and Myanmar’s ruling military junta
in prison for incitement and violations of laws on immigration and unlawful assembly. He had been detained since May.
"You just go a little stir crazy and the longer it drags on the more worried you are that it's just never going to end. That was the biggest concern, staying sane through that." Fenster was among dozens of media workers detained in Myanmar since a Feb. 1 coup that led to an outpouring of public anger over the military's abrupt end to a decade of tentative steps towards democracy. Myanmar's military has accused many media outlets of incitement and spreading false information.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday that the former governor "was not acting at the direction of the U.S. government" in Myanmar but officials had been in regular contact with Richardson and his team. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commended U.S. officials as well as Richardson. Blinken said Washington would "continue to call for the release of others who remain unjustly imprisoned."
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Ex-US diplomat says Myanmar frees jailed American journalistBANGKOK (AP) — Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson says American journalist Danny Fenster has been released from prison in Myanmar. Richardson said in a statement Monday that Fenster had been released from prison and handed over to him in Myanmar and would be soon on his way home via Qatar.
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US journalist jailed in Myanmar for nearly 6 months is freedAmerican journalist Danny Fenster, who was recently sentenced to 11 years of hard labor after spending nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, was freed and on his way home Monday, a former U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the release said. Fenster, the managing editor of the online magazine Frontier Myanmar, was convicted Friday of spreading false or inflammatory information, contacting illegal organizations and violating visa regulations. “This is the day that you hope will come when you do this work,” Bill Richardson, a former governor of New Mexico and past ambassador to the U.N., said in a statement emailed by his office.
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US journalist jailed in Myanmar for nearly 6 months is freedThe managing editor of an independent online magazine was released from prison in Myanmar, following negotiations between former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson and the ruling military junta.
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U.S. Journalist Danny Fenster Released by MyanmarThe 37-year-old journalist, who is expected home in the U.S. soon, was freed following a trip to Myanmar by Bill Richardson, a former U.S. diplomat who has been involved in the release of hostages before.
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American journalist Danny Fenster released from jail in MyanmarAmerican journalist Danny Fenster has been freed from prison in Myanmar, according to a Myanmar military official and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who had been on a private humanitarian visit to the country.
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