Myanmar court sentences US journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years in jail

The harsh penalty is the ruling military's latest rebuff of calls from around the world for a peaceful end to Myanmar's political crisis

A court in military-ruled Myan­mar on Friday senten­ced US journalist Danny Fen­ster to 11 years in prison with hard labour, the maximum penalty under three charges, despite calls by the United States and rights groups for his release.

It was the harshest punis­h­ment yet among the seven journalists known to have been convicted since the mili­t­ary ousted the elected gover­n­ment of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in Febru­ary. Fenster, the managing editor of the online magazine Frontier Myanmar, is facing additional terrorism and tre­a­s­on charges under which he could get up to life in prison.

The court found him guilty on