UPDATED: Supporters say the charges against Hkalam Samson, an outspoken critic of the junta’s human rights abuses, are politically motivated.
Update (April 10):
On Good Friday, Myanmar’s military junta sentenced Hkalam Samson, the former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention, to six years in prison on charges of terrorism, unlawful association, and inciting opposition. Hkalam denies the charges, which international rights groups and the Kachin diaspora believe to be politically motivated.
The first two charges stem from Hkalam’s 2022 trip to Laiza in Kachin state, where he met with Kachin leader Duwa Lashi La, the head of Myanmar’s government-in-exile, and General Sumlut Gunmaw, the vice chief of staff of the Kachin Independence Army, which has long fought against the Myanmar military.
The third charge is the result of a Zoom prayer meeting with Kachin Christian where he called the young people to build “the nation in Christ,” according to the The New York Times.
“He is a man who knows God and loves God,” Hkalam’s wife, Zung Nyaw told the Times. “He is a preacher, so he has no enemies. He is a person who sacrifices himself and helps others.”
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In July 2019, Hkalam Samson, a pastor from a predominantly Christian ethnic group in Myanmar, met with President Donald Trump at the Oval Office. Standing with a group of victims of religious persecution from around the world, he shared how the Kachin people were “oppressed and tortured by the Myanmar military government” and thanked the Trump administration for placing sanctions on four top generals.
Three and a half years and one military coup later, Hkalam was arrested at the Mandalay International Airport on December 4. The junta charged him with unlawful association and breaking the country’s counterterrorism law for meeting with Kachin armed forces …