LIVE FROM DOWNTOWN DETROIT. LOCAL 4 NEWS AT 5 30 STARTS NOW. DANNY FENSTER WAS PREPARING TO
RETURN HOME TO DETROIT, AND
THAT’S WHEN I STARTED TO GET
PRETTY TERRIFIED HOME SAFE WITH
HIS LIFE. RETURNING TO NORMAL
JOURNALIST DANNY FINSTER SHARES
HIS ORDEAL BEHIND BARS IN
MYANMAR. DID YOU EVER GIVE ANY
KIND OF CRAZY THOUGHT TO IS
THERE A WAY FOR ME TO ESCAPE?
DANNY FINSTER SPENT SIX MONTHS
IN JAIL IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY
EARNING APART AND JUST AFTER HE
WAS SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS OF
HARD LABOR. THE METRO DETROITER
IS ONE OF DOZENS OF JOURNALISTS
AS WELL AS COUNTLESS OTHERS TO
BE HELD SINCE THE MILITARY COUP
IN MYANMAR STARTED IN EARLY
2021. HE SURVIVED AND IS SHARING
HIS ORDEAL WITH OUR
DEVIN SCILLIAN, WHO RECENTLY SAT
DOWN WITH HIM AND HIS PARENTS.
HUNTINGTON’S HOME. DE’VEON WAS
ARRESTED AT THE AIRPORT IN
MYANMAR, JUST AS HE WAS ABOUT TO
BOARD A FLIGHT BACK HOME. TO
SURPRISE HIS PARENTS IN
MICHIGAN. WELL, HE DID THAT THEY
WERE GIVING YOU AT THE TRIANGLE
FOR MEDICAL GALLON OF HAIR NUT
GLOVES. I HAD PUT EVERYTHING ON
AND WAS WAITING AT THE GATE TO
BOARD THE FLIGHT. WHEN AH, LIKE
GROUP OF MAYBE EIGHT OR 10.
POLICE OFFICERS JUST KIND OF
WALKED UP TO THE GATE AND SAID
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR DANIEL
JACOB FENCE THERE AND YEAH, I
JUST KIND OF LIKE US. KIND OF
LOOKED AROUND AND KIND OF. YEAH,
THAT’S ME. I WAS SHOCKED AND
THAT’S WHEN I STARTED REALIZING
THIS IS DRAGGING ON AND I’M NOT
GETTING SPECIAL TREATMENT. THIS
IS NOT THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT.
THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT THAT
THE UNITED STATES HAS ANY TIES.
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONSHIP WITH OR
CONTACT WITH. I DON’T THINK I’M
GETTING TREATED ANY DIFFERENTLY
. AND THESE GUYS HAVE ALL BEEN
HERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. UM AND
THAT’S WHEN I STARTED TO GET
PRETTY TERRIFIED AND PRETTY
DEMORALIZED SO THEY WOULD BRING
TWO MEALS A DAY, SO THEY BRING
ONE AROUND EIGHT A.M. IN THEY
BRING IN THIS BIG PLASTIC BUCKET
OF I GUESS YOU’D CALL IT A BEAN
SOUP, BUT IT WAS JUST THIS LIKE
SALTWATER WITH LIKE A FEW BEANS.
THAT WOULD BE A SCRAMBLE TO GET
ANY OF THE ACTUAL BEANS. FIRST
COME FIRST SERVE AND THEN
EQUALLY LARGE BUCKET OF WHITE
RICE. AND THAT WAS EVERY MORNING
AND THEN EVERY DAY AT AROUND
THREE PM, THEY WOULD BRING AH
CURRY THAT EITHER HAD A LITTLE
BIT OF CHICKEN OR A LITTLE BIT
OF FISH. UM OR BEANS. UM THAT
WAS SO THOSE WERE THE TWO MEALS
UM NEITHER WERE PARTICULARLY
TASTY. DID YOU EVER GIVE ANY
KIND OF CRAZY THOUGHT TO IS
THERE A WAY FOR ME TO ESCAPE? OR
DOES THAT NOT HAPPEN? I DON’T
THINK I EVER GOT ANYWHERE NEAR
TRYING TO DO TRYING TO DO THAT.
BUT I WAS CONSTANT. THERE WAS A
BRICK WALL. TALL BRICK WALL
SURROUNDING OUR YARD. AND IT
WASN’T THAT TALL AND I WAS
CONSTANTLY STARING AT IT. OF A
JUMPED AND PUSHED OFF OF THERE.
I COULD GET THIS HEIGHT ON THE
NEXT WALL. BUT I KNEW RIGHT
BEHIND THAT WALL WAS THE WOMEN’S
PRISON. I KNEW IT WAS NOT
POSSIBLE, BUT I WAS THINKING
ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME. YEAH.
WHEN THEY WOULD BRING THE FOOD
THAT YOU ORDER FROM THE
COMMISSARY. SOMETIMES THEY WOULD
BRING THEM IN, UH, CARDBOARD
BOXES. AND IF I COULD ESTABLISH
A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GUYS WHO
WOULD DELIVER IT THAT THEY WOULD
COME TO ME LAST, SO THE BOX WAS
EMPTY AND I COULD KEEP THE BOX
THEN I HAD A TABLE. IT’S AMAZING
HOW HELPFUL THE TABLE IS. I HAD
NO IDEA. JUST BENDING OVER LESS
THAN ORGANIZING THINGS, LITTLE
THINGS. HE WAS IN THE ON SOME
REALLY BIZARRE CIRCUMSTANCES
THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN A
COUNTRY WITH THE RULE OF LAW.
AND I WOULD ASK HIM HOW HE’S NOT
SO. AGGRAVATED AND FRUSTRATED
AND YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS THIS
INJUSTICE. IN HIS. HIS NOTIONS
OF DETACHMENT, YOU KNOW, UM AND
SUFFERING KIND OF ONLY EXISTING
IN THE MIND. UM WE’RE REALLY,
REALLY PROFOUND. AND WE WALKED
OUT ON THE TARMAC IN THE
RICHARDSON FOUNDATION HAD HAD A
PRIVATE JET WAITING FOR US BEST
FLIGHT OF YOUR LIFE. OH, MY GOD.
BEST FLIGHT OF MY LIFE. BEST DAY
OF MY LIFE. IT’S BITTERSWEET,
KNOWING THAT I’LL NEVER EVER
HAVE AS GOOD OF AN AFTERNOON IS
THAT THAT TRIP HOME CAME JUST
THREE DAYS AFTER HE HAD BEEN
SENTENCED TO THE MAXIMUM OF 11
YEARS OF HARD LABOR. IT WAS THE
PRECURSOR TO HIS RELEASE,
THOUGH, BECAUSE HE HAD TO BE
CONVICTED AND SENTENCED
BASICALLY, BEFORE THE MYANMAR
GOVERNMENT COULD GIVE HIM A
PARDON WILL PUT PARDON IN QUOTES
. WE’VE GOT MY ENTIRE
CONVERSATION WITH DANNY RIGHT
NOW. CLICKONDETROIT’S DOT COM
REALLY ADMIRE HIM FOR SO MANY
DIFFERENT REASONS, BUT AMONG
THEM HE REALLY BELIEVED THAT
THEY WERE DOING SOME REALLY
IMPORTANT WORK AND ME AND MY
FRONTIER. MYANMAR REALLY IS
REQUIRED READING IN THAT PART OF
THE WORLD FOR WHAT’S GOING ON.
HE THOUGHT HE WENT THERE TO
COVER THIS RISING NEW DEMOCRACY.
AND OF COURSE, THE MILITARY TOOK
OVER AND CHANGED. THE STORY WAS
GOING TO ASK THEM IS THERE
WHAT’S NEXT WITH HIM? BECAUSE
THAT IS A PASSION FOR ACTUALLY
GOT A FELLOWSHIP COMING UP AT
HARVARD THIS FALL TO STUDY
THOUGH THINGS LIKE POLITICAL
JOURNALISM, UH PEOPLE WHO ARE
HELD, YOU KNOW THAT WE’VE GOT
WE’VE GOT AS YOU MENTIONED HELD
RIGHT NOW. IN FACT, HE WE TALKED
ABOUT PAUL WHELAN. ANOTHER GUY
FROM MICHIGAN RIGHT NOW IS BEING
HELD IN A JAIL IN RUSSIA. SO UH
, LOT MORE ABOUT DANNY. THE WEEK
I COULD GO ON, AND IT WAS A
FASCINATING TIME, HIS EXPERIENCE
REALLY SOMETHING WE CAN GO CHECK