US Journalist Jailed In Myanmar 'cared A Lot About Truth': Colleague

Bangkok, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Nov, 2021 ) :An American journalist jailed for 11 years by Myanmar's junta is humble, positive and inspired by George Orwell's writings against authoritarianism, his colleague told AFP, as he faces a second trial for sedition and terrorism.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government in February and launched a bloody crackdown that has killed more than 1,200 people, according to a local monitoring group, and also ensnared the media.

Danny Fenster, who had been working for local outlet Frontier Myanmar for around a year, was arrested in May as he tried to leave the country to see his family.

Last week, a court inside Yangon's Insein prison sentenced him to 11 years for unlawful association, incitement against the military and breaching visa rules -- charges his lawyer and the US government say are unfounded.

Danny "was always one of the most positive people in the room", Andrew Nachemson, Fenster's friend and colleague at Frontier Myanmar, told AFP.

"He doesn't need to be the centre of attention.

.. he doesn't need a ton of credit," said Nachemson, who left Myanmar in April due to fears of his own safety.

Fenster was happy working behind the scenes as Frontier's managing editor, he said, shaping and finessing the copy of local journalists that had earned the outlet a respected reputation.

"Everyone that's worked with him has only the best things to say about him... he was really just a warm friendly, great presence to have around in the office." The two became friends during weekends spent hiking, swimming and kayaking outside Yangon, where they had moved to cover Myanmar's transition to democratic rule.

Even with the economy surging and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi restored to political power, the country was beset with a lot of problems people "didn't want to talk about," Nachemson said.

"Somebody like Danny wanted to talk about the fact that journalists were still being arrested, that the Rohingya were still being killed," he said.

"He cared a lot about truth and combating authoritarianism."