The former head of Myanmar's Kachin Baptist Convention has been released from prison for the second time this year, after being released and re-detained in April.
Rev Hkalam Samson, a human rights advocate from Myanmar's Kachin ethnic minority, was first arrested in December 2022. Rev Samson is the chair of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, an umbrella organisation which unites religious and civil society groups with political organizations promoting Kachin rights, including autonomy from Myanmar's central government.
Handed a six-year prison term in April last year after being convicted of unlawful association, incitement and counter-terrorism, Rev Samson had been released in April of this year under a general amnesty only to be detained again just a few hours later, AP news agency reports.
Following his second arrest, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson of the ruling military council, told the BBC's Burmese-Language service that he had not been rearrested but was taken in "for cooperation and discussion about the peace process".
Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said in a statement released by the US Embassy in Burma that Washington welcomes Samson's release.
"We are pleased that he is finally able to return home to his family and continue his important work," Miller said.
"The United States welcomes the release of Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson from prison in Burma after he served more than a year of a six-year sentence on military-led, manufactured charges," the statement read.
"Rev Dr Samson is a prominent, well-respected religious leader whose courageous work includes advocating for freedom of religion or belief for all. We are pleased that he is finally able to return home to his family and continue his important work."
Rev Samson has been a leading advocate for the human rights of ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar, and was part of a 2019 delegation that met with US President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss the military's abuse of ethnic minorities.
He was initially detained in December 2022 as he prepared to fly to Thailand for a health check-up.
Christians make up about 6% of Myanmar's majority Buddhist population, but just over a third of the estimated 1.7 million Kachin population.
Human rights groups claim that minority religions such as Christianity have been significantly persecuted in Myanmar since the military took over in 2021, when the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted by a military junta who suppressed nonviolent protests, triggering armed resistance and an ongoing civil war.
