HUNTINGTON WOODS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — Now that Paul Whelan is back home, what will his life be like in the coming days and weeks?
CBS News Detroit spoke with Danny Fenster, a Huntington Woods resident and journalist who was imprisoned in Myanmar in 2021.
He described his return home as surreal.
“For me, the most lasting thing was a sense of gratitude. And I really hope it’s the same for these guys,” Fenster said.
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Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a military court in Myanmar on charges of publishing and disseminating comments that “cause fear.”
“They know that the people they’re holding aren’t guilty of anything. They often don’t suspect them of anything. So, knowing that it’s really a matter of waiting day by day, like they’re waiting to make a deal, doesn’t make those days any easier. But it does. You know, when you can remember that it’s going to end. I think that’s really important,” Fenster said.
The now 40-year-old spent six months behind bars and can still remember the isolation.
“I was constantly thinking about my family back home and occasionally I was able to communicate with them. It was the height of COVID in Myanmar at that time, so communication was constantly cut off,” he said.
The day of his release was one of confusion and disbelief.
“Then they told me, this is what’s happening. We’re going to turn you over. I was just incredibly, incredibly relieved, and I mean, I don’t think I even let myself feel that until I was standing outside looking at a plane that they told me I could get on,” Fenster said.
It wasn’t until he returned to Metro Detroit that he realized how much support he had had.
“Every house I passed had a sign with my face on it. It was really surreal. You know, I was jogging down the street and cars would stop, roll down their windows and say, ‘Welcome home!’ I mean, it was just unbelievable,” Fenster said.
In the following weeks, Fenster, though not required to do so, traveled to Washington DC to answer questions from the US State Department about his time behind bars.
A charity paid the cost of his medical examination; he expects the same for those recently released.
“I just want to let Paul and Evan know how incredibly happy I am that they are back home and how moving it has been to see this story unfold over the last few days,” Fenster said.
Fenster, who is in a civil partnership with his partner Juliana, wants to continue his work in Southeast Asia, but he visits the US at least once a year.
Andrés Gutierrez
