A court has rejected the appeal of one of Myanmar’s leading Protestant activists a month after he was sentenced to six years in prison under the country’s counterterrorism law.
Myitkyina Prison Court in Kachin state on Tuesday dismissed the appeal from the Rev. Dr. Hkalam Samson. The same court issued the sentence on April 7 after he was convicted on charges of alleged terrorism, unlawful association and inciting opposition to the military regime.
Samson, a former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention, was arrested at Mandalay International Airport on Dec. 4. He was on his way to receive medical treatment in Bangkok.
Authorities told him his name was on a no-fly list and questioned him overnight at Central Regional Military Command headquarters.
At the time, Samson worked as an adviser for the Kachin Baptist Convention, which has about 400,000 members, most of whom are ethnic Kachin. He helped lead efforts to provide humanitarian assistance for those impacted by violence and conflicts in Kachin.
He was also president of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, a group of local religious and political leaders who help foster communication between the Kachin Independence Organization, an ethnic Kachin political group, and the local community.
In October last year, he helped organize hospital treatment and funerals for people injured and killed in a junta airstrike on an annual concert hosted by the Kachin Independence Organization. The group’s armed wing has been actively fighting against junta troops since the 2021 military coup d’etat and has trained anti-regime People’s Defense Forces.
More than 60 people died during the attack, residents said at the time.
Previous defamation case
In 2019, Samson visited the White House and thanked then-president Donald Trump for imposing travel bans on senior Myanmar military commanders involved in a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. He also appealed to Trump to take action against religious persecution in Myanmar and to support the country’s transition to genuine democracy.
The Northern Regional Military Command, based in Kachin state, later brought a defamation lawsuit against Samson for speaking about Myanmar’s religious and human rights situation during the meeting with Trump, though the case was later withdrawn.
The U.S. State Department last month called the charges in the criminal case “manufactured” and demanded Samson’s immediate release.
Though the family has not been allowed to see Samson, they have received permission to send him medicine. Samson suffers from congenital pneumonia and high blood pressure.
Samson’s lawyer, Daung Nan, told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday that she would submit an appeal to the Kachin state court.
“When we filed an appeal yesterday, the court summarily dismissed it,” she said. “So, we are going to submit an appeal to the state court. If it doesn’t go well, we will file an appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Samson’s wife, Zhon Nyoir, told RFA that they could not argue against the court’s decision.
“I’m praying [for his release] and we will meet him again when God alters the verdict,” she said.
Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.