16 | DECEMBER 2 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

journalists are still being held in prison in 
Myanmar by the military government and 
are awaiting trials and call for their immedi-
ate release,
” read the statement. “The JCRC/
AJC and the Jewish community stands 
firmly behind the right of free speech and 
… human beings to speak the truth. May 
the light and courageous stories from the 
upcoming holiday of Chanukah inspire all 
those who are awaiting freedom and justice 
and fill us all with hope.
” 
Journalists and organizations that sup-
port domestic and global efforts for a free 
press and freedom of speech agreed that 
Fenster’s release was encouraging but cau-
tioned there are still journalists imprisoned 
and imperiled all over the world by totali-
tarian governments.
“We lend our voice to the broader issue 
of freedom of the press and the free flow 
of information around the world,” Roy 
Gutterman, Syracuse University professor 
and director for the Tully Center for Free 
Speech, told the JN. 
“Journalists take risks to tell the rest of 
the world what’s going on. We rely on for-
eign reporters the same way we rely on the 
local reporter who goes to that city council 
or board of education meeting to keep the 
rest of us informed. The press serves an 
important function and, unfortunately, that 
can mean taking risks and going to places 
where they are not welcome.” 

The Society of Professional Journalists 
in a press release said the organization 
remains concerned that Fenster’s convic-
tion has not been expunged.

“It is clear that Fenster’s only crime was 
being a journalist,” said SPJ International 
Community Co-Chair Dan Kubiske. “He 
should not be forced to bear the burden 
of being convicted of any crime simply 
because of his good work.”

Former CBS White House 
Correspondent Peter Maer, who traveled 
to Myanmar to cover former President 
Barack Obama’s 2014 visit with 1991 Nobel 
Peace Prize Laureate Nobel Peace Prize 
Aung San Suu Kyi, who was the coun-
try’s leader before she was ousted by the 
military takeover and is also in prison on 
similar charges faced by Fenster, described 
a country where citizens were under con-
stant surveillance and “everyone is always 
looking over their shoulders.” 
“
As we celebrate Fenster’s freedom, we 
cannot forget the oppression of the other 
reporters who are still there in prison just 
for doing the job of reporting the news,” 
Maer said in an interview with the JN. 
“We have to also consider the fact that 
those who have the means and connec-
tions should fight for freedom for journal-
ists who are being held by authoritarian 
regimes for doing nothing more than 
doing their work. We also have to be on 
guard in this country on attacks on jour-
nalism and the First Amendment.” 
Burmese native Kyat Thien worked as 
a citizen journalist in Myanmar, notably 
smuggling out reports to foreign news 
agencies in 2008 when the Burmese mil-
itary blocked international humanitarian 
aid in the wake of a devastating cyclone 

that killed thousands. He was jailed for 
six months, being repeatedly beaten and 
tortured while blindfolded in the middle 
of the night by his captors who tried to get 
him to reveal the names and whereabouts 
of his colleagues. 
He said he was released by lying to his 
captors that he would spy on other jour-
nalists but instead, through a clandestine 
and complicated network of contacts, he 
paid his way out of Myanmar, made it to 
Thailand and eventually to the United 
States in 2010. 
“In my opinion, the general released 
Danny Fenster to Bill Richardson because 
the Burmese military is afraid of the United 
States military; it’s that simple,
” Thein, who 
now lives in California, told the JN. “I do 
not have hope that other Burmese journal-
ists who are imprisoned will be released. I 
have concern for all those who are detained 
in the notorious prisons of Burma and 
every day (the military) arrests more. The 
military is especially afraid of Generation Z 
and many are being arrested because they 
are resisting the military and want to have a 
free open society.
” 

Editor’s Note: Look for an interview with Danny 

Fenster in an upcoming issue after he has had time 

to recover from his ordeal and enjoy his family during 

the holidays.

ABOVE: The new message is clear on this 
sign supporting Fenster’s release.

RIGHT: Danny Fenster in Yangon, Myanmar.

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