"Danny Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in prison for incitement to dissent, illegal association and violation of visa law," his lawyer Than Zaw Aung told AFP, adding that his client has yet to decided whether or not to appeal.

In a separate proceeding, he is also charged with terrorism and sedition and faces life imprisonment.

American journalist in Burma Danny Fenster, sentenced to 11 years in prison by the junta.

Photo undated and distributed on June 4, 2021 by the journalist's family - Fenster Family / AFP / Archives

Danny Fenster is the first Western journalist to be detained in years in Burma, where the generals regained power in February with a coup against former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Frontier Myanmar, one of the country's main independent media outlets, in which the journalist worked as editor-in-chief, said in a statement "deeply disappointed".

"We just want him to be released as quickly as possible so that he can return home and reunite with his family."

Solicited, a spokesperson for the junta was not immediately available.

"Scandalous" sentence

This sentence is "scandalous and unacceptable (...) the charges were fabricated from scratch," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia department at Human Rights Watch.

A man wears a T-shirt calling for the release of Danny Fenster, an American journalist imprisoned in Burma, on June 5, 2021 in Huntington Woods, Michigan, United States.

JEFF KOWALSKY AFP / Archives

"This regime does not respect any rule. It is determined to do what it wants," said Richard Horsey, of the International Crisis Group (ICG) analysis center.

"It is a big setback for American diplomacy" which is deploying a lot of efforts for this liberation.

This conviction comes a few days after a meeting between the former American diplomat Bill Richardson and the head of the junta Min Aung Hlaing.

The two men discussed the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines and medical supplies.

Bill Richardson, who declined to give more details, said the US State Department asked him not to bring up the journalist's case during the visit.

Danny Fenster, 37, was arrested on May 24 at Yangon International Airport as he tried to leave the country.

Since then, he has been detained in the economic capital at Insein prison with many political prisoners.

His trial is being held behind closed doors within the confines of the penitentiary establishment.

"His continued detention is unacceptable. Journalism is not a crime," a spokesman for US diplomacy recently said.

Danny Fenster, who contracted Covid-19 in custody according to his family, has lost a lot of weight, according to his lawyer.

To justify his conviction, the court provided information from the Ministry of Information, which is entirely controlled by the junta.

The latter claims that Danny Fenster, at the time of his arrest, was working for a local media outlet, Myanmar Now, whose license was withdrawn shortly after the coup, said Than Zaw Aung.

Strangled press

Demonstration against the February coup in Myanmar on November 10, 2021 in Yangon - AFP

Burma has sunk into chaos since the February 1 putsch that ended a 10-year democratic parenthesis.

The military regime continues a bloody crackdown on its opponents with more than 1,250 civilians killed and more than 7,000 in detention, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local NGO that reports cases of torture, rape and extra-judicial executions.

The press is strangled by the junta, which tries to strengthen its control over information, limiting access to the internet and canceling media licenses.

More than 100 journalists have been arrested since the putsch, according to Reporting ASEAN, an association for the defense of rights, which notes that 31 are still in detention.

Under house arrest since his arrest at dawn on February 1, Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, has been on trial since June for a multitude of offenses - illegal importation of walkie-talkies, violation of restrictions linked to Covid- 19, sedition, corruption, incitement to public unrest ...

She faces long years in prison if found guilty.

Many observers denounce a political trial aimed at neutralizing the winner of the 2015 and 2020 elections.

At the end of October, Win Htein, an 80-year-old close collaborator, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for treason.

© 2021 AFP