Jailed US journalist in Myanmar slapped with new charge

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — The lawyer for a U.S. journalist who has spent more than four months in pretrial detention in military-ruled Myanmar says his client has been charged with a second criminal offense. He says Danny Fenster, managing editor of the Yangon-based online news and business magazine Frontier Myanmar, has been charged under the Unlawful Associations Act. The law says anyone who is a member of an officially designated unlawful association or abets it is liable to two to three years’ imprisonment. Fenster is one of about 100 journalists detained since the military’s February takeover. The 37-year-old from the Detroit area has denied any wrongdoing while authorities have refused to disclose the reason behind his arrest.