Today Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09) released the following update on the case of Danny Fenster of Huntington Woods, MI, a journalist detained in Myanmar since May 24.
I wanted to share recent developments in Danny's case since my update last week:
- The U.S. embassy in Yangon was granted consular access to Danny by phone earlier this week. Danny seems OK. Our embassy was granted permission to attend Danny's July 1 court hearing—more on that below—but not to speak with Danny there. There is still no in-person contact with our embassy allowed, which is unacceptable.
- On June 30, the Myanmar government released nearly 2,300 political prisoners, including those who had been imprisoned for violating section 505-A of Myanmar's Penal Code following the military coup earlier this year. This is the same section that Danny has been accused of violating.
- On June 30, the rock band U2 joined our call for Danny's immediate release. I'm hopeful that this high-profile recognition of Danny's case will bring much more attention to it.
- On July 1, Danny appeared in court again, and has been ordered to appear again on July 15. This was expected, if deeply disappointing.
- Some media reports on Danny's latest hearing include the fact that Danny formerly worked at the news website Myanmar Now, which the coup regime banned for its reporting on post-coup events. What is significant here is that we now have court documents confirming the government knows that Danny used to work for Myanmar Now but left well before the coup. This is one factor that bodes well for Danny's release.
Thank you again for your journalistic solidarity as we fight to #BringDannyHome.
Source:https://andylevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/levin-releases-update-danny-fenster-case-0
