A prominent Myanmar Christian leader is released from prison for a second time in 4 months

Bangkok– A prominent Christian church leader and human rights advocate for Myanmar’s Kachin ethnic minority was released from prison earlier this week, a member of a Kachin peace organization said Wednesday.

Reverend Hkalam Samson was first arrested in December 2022. In April last year he was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy, incitement and combating terrorism. He was released in April this year under a general amnesty but arrested again a few hours later.

Samson, a former leader of the Kachin Baptist Convention, also chairs the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, an umbrella organization that unites religious and civil society groups with political organizations that promote Kachin rights, including autonomy from the central government of Kachin. Myanmar.

The state, in northern Myanmar, has been the scene of intermittent war for decades between the army and the well-organized and well-armed Kachin guerrillas.

Samson was held for 16 months in the prison of Myitkyina Municipality, capital of Kachin State, until his initial release mid-April this year under an amnesty covering 3,300 prisoners throughout the country on the occasion of the traditional Thingyan New Year holiday.

However, a few hours after his release, he was arrested again.

Two days after Samson was detained for the second time, Major General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling military council, said in an interview with the BBC’s Burmese language service that he had not been arrested again, but had been internment “for cooperation and discussion on the peace process.”

Lamai Gwanja, a leading member of the Kachin-based Peace Talks Creating Group, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Samson was released from the prison compound at 11:30 a.m. Monday.

“He was released after living in a house on the prison grounds,” Lamai Gwanja said by phone. “They did not arrest him again, but they called him in for a short time to discuss the issue of peace and, after three months, he was released.”

However, he added that Samson did not participate in any activities related to the peace talks during the period of his detention.

Samson could not be reached for comment.

Samson is a prominent advocate for the human rights of ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar, and in 2019 he was part of a delegation that met with then-US President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss the abuse of ethnic minorities by the military.

Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department, said in a statement released Tuesday that Washington welcomes Samson’s release.

“We are glad he can finally return home to his family and continue his important work,” Miller said.

Christians make up about 6% of Myanmar’s overwhelming Buddhist population, but about 34% of Kachin’s estimated 1.7 million inhabitants.

Human rights groups have said that minority religions, including Christians, have been significantly persecuted in Myanmar since the military’s takeover in 2021, when the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and repressed nonviolent protests, triggering armed resistance that has led to a civil war.

Kachin guerrillas have played an important role in the resistance movement uniting armed minority ethnic groups with pro-democracy fighters who organized against military rule.