In Myanmar, American journalist Danny Finster was sentenced behind closed doors to 11 years in prison, according to a report by his lawyer and employer. He is the first Western journalist to be imprisoned since the military took power in the Southeast Asian country in February, according to Reuters news agency.

Finster has held a leadership position for the independent news website Frontier Myanmar. “Everyone is disappointed and disappointed with this decision,” the organization said. on Twitter. There is absolutely no evidence of the charges under which he was convicted.”

Maybe longer in the dungeon

According to the news platform, Finster has been charged, among other things, with sedition and violating immigration laws. The harshest possible punishment would be based on such allegations.

But Finster may be behind bars for much longer. He faces two additional charges, each with a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Military officials have yet to announce anything about the lawsuit. A spokesman for the military council could not be reached for comment.

steady since May

The 37-year-old American was arrested in May when he tried to leave the country by plane. Since then, according to his colleagues, he has been held in the infamous Insein Prison in Yangon, the country’s largest city. The US authorities pushed unsuccessfully for Finster’s release.

More than 7,000 people have been arrested, charged or convicted on political grounds since the coup. Dozens of them are journalists, who, according to the new rulers, incite the population with “fake news”. Reports too AAPB مراقبة Monitoring Organization 1,253 people were killed by the military.

armed resistance

The country of 54 million people was ruled by the military until 2011. After that, a period of democratic reforms began and Myanmar reopened its borders to tourism. The turning point was the elections at the end of last year.

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won an outright majority in Parliament. According to the military, there was fraud, but international observers found no evidence to support this claim. Then the army leadership staged a coup. The population responded with protests, mass strikes, and, more recently, armed resistance.