by
Danny Fenster
Journalist Danny Fenster, a Metro Detroit native, was detained in a Mynamar prison in Southeast Asia for nearly six months in 2021 as the military government cracked down on journalists and critics. After being convicted on bogus charges relating to journalism, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Shortly after, in November 2021, he was released.
Fenster, 40, is now in Thailand where he's back with his publication, Frontier Myanmar. Deadline Detroit asked for his response to the release of Paul Whelan of Novi, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva from Russian prisons. (Juliana is his partner)
What a day. Juliana texted me early yesterday about it, after Ian Bremmer tweeted that he’d heard it was about to happen. I couldn’t believe it. I immediately checked the Journal and the Post to see if there was anything published yet. There wasn’t, so I sent out some emails to see what others were hearing, then started constantly refreshing my browser for the rest of the day.
I’ve rewatched the video of them deplaning literally dozens of times. What an incredible feeling, but one that is really hard to put into words.
It consists of a lot of different emotions mashed up together, but mostly it’s joy. I’ve been thinking about them so much and waiting for this to happen for so long. To see them finally back with their families brought back a lot of memories.
I hope they’re able to take each day slowly and to really appreciate having back all of the things that were stolen from them for so long — time with their families and friends, their freedom of movement, their privacy, their favorite foods. Good coffee and leisurely mornings. Their own beds.
Probably everyone unfortunate enough to go through this sort of thing responds to it somewhat differently, but for me, that is what most marked the days and months of my settling back into freedom — a deep gratitude for and appreciation of all these kinds of things. Paul and Evan are both obviously superhumanly resilient, and they both seem to be in great spirits. I’m pretty confident that their next many months will be similarly blissful.
I’m so fucking happy — for them and for their families.
