FCCT statement on the detention of Danny Fenster from Frontier Myanmar

The professional membership of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand is deeply concerned to learn of the detention of American journalist Danny Fenster, managing editor of the news magazine Frontier Myanmar, at Yangon International Airport on Monday morning.

Mr Fenster is now reported to be in Yangon’s infamous high-security Insein Prison. It is not clear if he has yet been charged with any offence.

Before joining Frontier just before last November’s general election, Fenster worked for the independent news organization Myanmar Now. Both Frontier and Myanmar Now have produced courageous original reporting of exceptional quality in recent years. Particularly since the coup on Feb. 1, these organizations have made invaluable contributions to the world’s understanding of recent dramatic events in Myanmar.

Fenster is the latest among more than 70 journalists detained since February, simply for doing their jobs — reporting what they see. Some have been charged under a law criminalising any comment or publication deemed by the military to undermine the worldview or morale of soldiers or police officers.

The arrests of journalists and the violence used by the security forces on anyone caught trying to report or record their actions constitute an extraordinary attack on freedom of expression in Myanmar, and should be widely condemned.

The FCCT urges the military authorities in Myanmar to respect the proper role of an independent media in keeping the flow of information going, and to demonstrate its own promise to restore democratic politics and abide by the constitution by releasing those it has detained in the current turmoil.

The FCCT urges all governments to show their support for media freedom in Myanmar by protesting this and other detentions of journalists at every opportunity.