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Danny Fenster
The case in Myanmar against imprisoned Detroit journalist Danny Fenster gets more surreal.
Military junta prosecutors Tuesday added two more charges to three lodged earlier against Fenster, 37.
He's now also charged under a terrorism law that could bring three to seven years in prison, the Associated Press reports. It covers “acts of exhortation, persuasion, propaganda and recruitment of any person to participate in any terrorist group or activities of terrorism.”
The other new charge is under a treason law and carries a penalty of seven to 20 years.
“I have no idea why they charged him with sedition and terrorism,” Fenster's lawyer, U Than Zaw Aung, said, according to The New York Times.
He said the charges and imprisonment are weighing on his client. “He is taking medication for depression,” he said, adding that “two more charges have made him even more depressed.”
Until now, he faced a charge of incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information, violating the Unlawful Associations Act for contacting opposition groups and an immigration violation.
The Associated Press reports:
Fenster’s trial is closed to the press and the public, and details have been relayed only by his lawyer. It remains unclear what exactly he is accused of doing, despite testimony by several prosecution witnesses. The judge in the case ruled Monday that the prosecution had provided enough evidence for the trial to continue.
Ironically, the latest charges were added after his lawyer said the government was mistakenly charging him with working for Myanmar Now, a publication Fenster had left in July 2020, about eight before the Myanmar military took over the government.
In the end, Fenster could be acquitted and set free, sentenced to time served or a longer term or deported after conviction.
His brother Bryan Fenster tells Deadline Detroit:
"It's very difficult to hear about these new charges and the possible sentencing. Then again, we've felt this way since May 24."
He was arrested at the airport May 24 in Myanmar as he was about to take off for a trip to Metro Detroit to visit family and friends.
Fenster lived in Detroit and earned a master's degree from Wayne State University in creative writing before taking a newspaper job in Louisiana. He currently is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, a publication that publishes in Burmese and English. Fenster edited the English edition and did not report on the street.