Burma Releases Jailed Church Leader
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NAY PYI TAW, BURMA (Worthy News) – A prominent church leader in military-ruled Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been released by local authorities while serving a lengthy prison sentence for allegedly violating the Asian nation’s controversial anti-terrorism legislation, Worthy News established Wednesday.
Several Christians confirmed that Reverend Hkalam Samson, the former president of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), was freed around July 22.
Samson’s release came more than a year after he was detained at Mandalay International Airport on December 5, 2022.
He was eventually sentenced to six years in prison on what his supporters viewed as false charges of “unlawful association, defaming the State and terrorism” on April 7 last year.
Christians said, “Samson is a non-violent Christian pastor and an internationally respected human rights advocate” who had become a victim of the Myanmar military, which has ruled the country with an iron fist for several years.
Samson was briefly released from Myitkyina Prison earlier this year on April 17 as part of a national amnesty. However, later that same day, he was escorted back to the prison grounds and placed in a house as a ‘guest’ of Myitkyina Prison, Christians said.
While Samson’s family members could visit him during this time, the pastor was not allowed to leave the prison, confirmed advocacy group Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC) to Worthy News.
Rights activists have urged the country’s military to ensure that he and his family are permitted to enjoy his freedom in peace and without fear of further legal prosecution.
Reverend Samson served as president of the KBC from 2018 to 2022 and previously served as its general secretary for two terms, from 2010 to 2018.
In 2019, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the International Religious Freedom Ministerial Conference. There, he was among faith leaders from around the world who met with then-U.S. President Donald J. Trump in the White House.
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