The United States on Friday known as on Myanmar’s army regime to launch the American editor of a information outlet based mostly within the coup-hit nation who was detained earlier this week as he tried to board a flight.
“We are deeply involved over the detention of US citizen Daniel Fenster, who was working as a journalist, in Burma,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.
Fenster, the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, was detained on Monday at the international airport in Yangon, Myanmar’s main city, his outlet said on Twitter.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 1 coup, with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement.
More than 800 civilians have been killed in an ongoing bloody military crackdown, according to a local monitoring group.
“The detention of Daniel, as well as arrest and use of violence by the Burmese military against other journalists, constitutes an unacceptable attack on freedom of expression in Burma,” the State Department spokesperson mentioned.
Consular officers from the US embassy in Yangon have tried to go to Fenster, however have to date not been given entry to him, the spokesperson mentioned.
“We urge the Burmese regime to grant consular entry, as required by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, immediately, and to guarantee correct remedy of Daniel whereas he stays detained,” the spokesperson added.
Frontier said it was concerned for Fenster’s wellbeing and did not know why the 37-year-old journalist had been detained.
Fenster, who had been working for the outlet for around a year, was heading home to see his family, Frontier’s chief editor Thomas Kean told AFP.
“Our priorities right now are to make sure he is safe and to provide him with whatever assistance he needs,” the outlet mentioned in a tweet.
Read all of the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News right here
