A U.S. journalist who lives in Yangon, Myanmar, was detained at the airport as he tried to leave the country. Danny Fenster, a U.S. citizen from Detroit, Michigan, works as a managing editor for the news site Frontier Myanmar.
Fenster was getting ready to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when he was taken into custody. Fenster's brother, Bryan, said that he was planning to return to the United States to surprise his parents, who he had not seen in two years.
"We do not know why Danny was detained and have not been able to contact him since this morning. We are concerned for his wellbeing and call for his immediate release. Our priorities right now are to make sure he is safe and to provide him with whatever assistance he needs," Frontier Myanmar said in a statement.
The news organization said that Fenster was transferred to Insein Prison, which is considered one of the country's most notorious political prisons.
The U.S. State Department is aware of the Fenster's detention and issued a brief statement.
"We are aware of reports of a U.S. citizen detained in Burma. We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad, and are monitoring the situation. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment."
Authorities have arrested more than 80 journalists since a military coup overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. According to The Detroit News, roughly half of the journalists remained locked up. Fenster is the third foreign journalist to be jailed. Robert Bociaga of Poland and Yuki Kitazumi of Japan have both been expelled from the country.
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