An American editor who works for a prominent Myanmar publication was detained by authorities in Yangon as he attempted to board a flight to Malaysia on Monday, his employers said.
United States citizen and managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, Danny Fenster, was detained at Yangon International Airport, his employers said in a statement on their verified Twitter account.
"We do not know why Danny was detained and have not been able to contact him since this morning. We are concerned for his wellbeing and call for his immediate release," Frontier said.
"Our priorities right now are to make sure he is safe and to provide him with whatever assistance he needs."
Fenster, 37, had been working for the outlet for around a year and was heading home to see his family in the US. Junta authorities have not yet explained the reason for his detention.
At least 34 journalists and photographers remain in custody across Myanmar, according to monitoring group Reporting Asean.
Frontier said it understood Fenster had been transferred to Yangon's notorious Insein Prison.
Japanese reporter Yuki Kitazumi was detained by authorities in Myanmar last month and was held in the same prison until being freed last week.
On his return to Tokyo he said political prisoners in the jail had told him they were tortured with beatings and sleep deprivation.
In March a BBC journalist was briefly detained after being seized by plainclothes officers while reporting outside a court in the capital Naypyidaw.
Separately, Polish photojournalist Robert Bociaga — who was also arrested while covering protests — was released in March after nearly a fortnight in detention at a police station in Shan capital Taunggyi.
The arrest comes as detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi voiced defiance Monday in her first court appearance since being detained in the coup, vowing her ousted political party would live on.
In the 2021 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, Myanmar ranked 140 out of 180 countries.
Since the February coup, journalists in Myanmar "face systematic arrest campaigns and censorship", the watchdog said.
"Many will resign themselves to working clandestinely in order to be free to report what is happening and to evade the police."
