Freed after months in Myanmar jail, US journalist Danny Fenster lands in New York

On his way back to the US, he told reporters that he was physically OK and had not been starved or beaten while in custody

A bearded and shaggy-haired Fenster had an emotional reunion with his family, saying his return ‘surpasses everything I had imagined’

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US journalist Danny Fenster is reunited with his mother Rose Fenster at JFK airport on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:06am, 17 Nov 2021

American journalist Danny Fenster, who was freed after nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, arrived on Tuesday in the United States for an emotional reunion with his family.

Fenster, who was sentenced last week to 11 years of hard labour, was handed over Monday to former US diplomat Bill Richardson, who helped negotiate the release. He is one of more than 100 journalists, media officials or publishers who have been detained since the military ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February.

It’s been a “long time coming, a moment I had been imagining so intensely for so long,” a bearded and shaggy-haired Fenster said after landing in New York. “Surpasses everything I had imagined.”

Fenster’s family awaited his arrival in the lobby of an airport hotel – and rushed outside to greet him as they saw the SUV carrying him approach. His mother, Rose, embraced him in a long tight hug the moment he stepped out of the vehicle.

US journalist Danny Fenster (left) speaks at a press conference with former US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson after being reunited with his family at JFK airport on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

“It’s over. There’s nothing to be anxious about any more,” Fenster said later in an interview. “Any bitter, ill will, regret, anger spilled out on the tarmac when I got on that plane.”