One of Two American Journalists Detained by Myanmar Military Released

Nearly 100 Arrested Following Coup

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] One of the two American journalists arrested while reporting on the Myanmar military's violent crackdown has been released. There is no news yet about the other.

According to AP News and local media on the 15th, Nathan Maung, editor-in-chief of the online media Kamawut Media, was released after three months. He will be deported from Myanmar on the same day.

Nathan Maung, a U.S. citizen, was arrested by the military police on March 9 and detained at Insein Prison in Yangon. He was put on trial along with Hantar Nine, a Myanmar national and producer at Kamawut Media, on charges of incitement and spreading fake news.

There is still no news about the other American journalist arrested by the military, Danny Fenster. Fenster is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, a private media outlet based in Yangon. Frontier Myanmar is an independent media outlet reporting on the situation since the coup and has published critical articles about the military.

Fenster was arrested at the airport on the 24th of last month while trying to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur, a transit point to visit his family in Detroit, USA. He has since been detained at Insein Prison. After his arrest at the airport, there were suspicions that the military had created a "blacklist" containing the names of journalists who wrote critical articles or foreigners who shared anti-military content on social media, and compared it with passenger lists obtained from airlines to make arrests.

Since the coup, the military has arrested nearly 100 journalists. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a human rights organization, stated, "More than 90 journalists have been arrested since the coup, and about half of them are currently imprisoned."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.