The U.S. government is calling for the immediate release of imprisoned Baptist bishop Hkalam Samson, who was arrested and detained by Myanmar’s junta three months ago.
Samson, an adviser to the Kachin Baptist Convention, was arrested in early December on charges of meeting with members of an ethnic armed group and holding a prayer meeting with members of the parallel civilian government of Myanmar, also known as Burma.
“We condemn the Burma military regime’s arrest and detention of prominent ethnic Kachin Christian leader, Reverend Dr. Hkalam Samson,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a recent press briefing.
The Rev. Hkalam Samson, president of the Kachin Baptist Convention, speaks with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 2019. | YouTube/ KBC Kachin
The conflict between the military, locally known as Tatmadaw, and ethnic minority militias has escalated since the military’s coup in February 2021, as the ethnic militias have been supporting pro-democracy protesters. The junta has killed more than 3,000 people and arrested nearly 20,000 others, as of last Friday, according to The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
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