Danny Fenster recounts life behind bars in Myanmar

Reliable Sources

CNN

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3.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2022

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

American journalist Danny Fenster was imprisoned in Myanmar for nearly six months in 2021. Now he is readjusting to normal life and getting back to reporting. He talks with Brian Stelter about his arrest; going into "reporter mode" in prison; experiencing a "sham trial;" and eventually winning his freedom. Fenster discusses the lack of due process in Myanmar, the role of state-run media, and the "challenge for [journalists] to make the story more compelling" as the citizens of Myanmar continue to suffer.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Danny Fenster is one of the lucky ones. He was jailed for six months in Myanmar after
0:08.1	the military enacted a coup last year. Fenster was able to return home to the US, and now
0:15.7	he's back to doing what he loves, reporting. But so many other reporters, often local
0:22.8	reporters, languished behind bars in autocratic countries. It's a problem to this day in Myanmar
0:31.1	and in so many other parts of the world. So what can we learn from Danny Fenster's story?
0:38.0	And what's he trying to do now to pay it forward? Those are a couple of the questions for this
0:43.5	week's reliable sources podcast. Let's cue that music. I first heard the name Danny Fenster
0:57.7	soon after he was taken into custody at the International Airport. He was trying to leave
1:04.4	Myanmar. He was trying to head home to see his family in Detroit. But instead he was thrown
1:10.4	behind bars, not knowing for how long or really even why. Fenster was a journalist in Myanmar
1:19.1	before the coup. He worked for a publication called Myanmar Now and then joined Frontier Myanmar
1:25.5	in August 2020. And that's important because of what you're about to hear about why he thinks
1:31.4	the authorities came after him. It's also important to recognize as you hear his story that he had
1:38.8	help, he had support. His parents, his family, they came on programs like reliable sources to advocate
1:45.9	for his release. And his wife, Juliana, she was in Myanmar and she was able to support him on the
1:53.9	ground. Sometimes bringing him packages. She was able to receive notes that he would slip and
2:00.1	sneak to her. It's an incredible personal story about one journalist thrown behind bars.
2:09.8	Treated to a sham trial. But then able to find freedom in a way that frankly, other journalists
2:18.6	sometimes are not. You're going to hear at the end of this interview how it's connected
2:24.8	to the war in Ukraine as well. There's a lot to get to. So let me present to you the interview in
2:29.3	full. My conversation with Danny Fenster. Hey, Danny, I'm so glad we're able to talk. I was
2:35.9	worried last spring that maybe we would never be able to speak. Yeah, yeah. I'm also extremely
	...

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