US journalist Danny Fenster has been detained in Myanmar and charges of “terrorism” and “sedition” have been slapped against him.
According to his lawyer, Danny Fenster could face life imprisonment if convicted.
Fenster is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, an online news magazine based in Yangon.
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According to a media report, he is already on trial for allegedly encouraging dissent against the military, unlawful association and breaching immigration law.
Fenster’s lawyer Than Zaw Aung on Wednesday said the journalist was arrested as he was leaving the country in May.
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The new charges come under the Counter-Terrorism Act and Myanmar’s Penal Code.
The report quoted the judge in the case ruling on Monday that the prosecution provided enough evidence for the trial to continue.
While the prosecution is reportedly trying to link Fenster to an as-yet-unspecified offence allegedly carried out by his former employer, Myanmar Now.
But both his former employer and current employer, Frontier Myanmar, claimed he quit the former job in July last year and joined the latter company a month after that.
It has been reported that last week the 37-year-old American citizen was hit with a charge of violating the colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act.
Within a week, the military regime added an immigration offence to the list of his alleged crimes.
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The army junta seized power in a military coup on February 1.
Since then the military junta has tried to silence the country’s media by way of revoking impartial publishing and broadcast licenses, raiding newspaper places of work and focused on newshounds for arrest.
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Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military coup.
It has been reported that over 1,200 people have been killed by security forces in a continued crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.
Meanwhile, a Myanmar court has reportedly sent two close aides of former President Aung San Suu Kyi to jail for terms of 75-90 years.
The two politicians, who are members of the Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, have been sentenced to 75 years and 90 years after finding them guilty of corruption.
Former Kayin state planning minister Than Naing was convicted on Tuesday by the state court of six corruption charges and given a 90-year prison term, a news agency reported.
Suu Kyi is also being tried on corruption and other criminal charges that her supporters say were concocted to discredit her and legitimise the military’s seizure of power.