Myanmar court sentences US journalist to 11 years in jail

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced U.S. journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years in prison with hard labor. It’s the maximum penalty under three charges and was imposed despite calls by the United States and rights groups for Fenster’s release. It is also harshest punishment yet among seven journalists known to have been convicted since the military ousted an elected government in February. Fenster, the managing editor of the online magazine Frontier Myanmar, still faces additional terrorism and treason charges under which he could receive up to life in prison. Fenster’s penalty is the ruling military’s latest rebuff of calls for a peaceful end to Myanmar’s political crisis.