Prominent Baptist pastor in military-ruled Myanmar detained again hours after release from prison

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — A prominent Christian church leader and human rights advocate from Myanmar’s Kachin ethnic minority has been detained just hours after he was released from prison by the military government. The Rev. Hkalam Samson, the former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention, was among 3,300 prisoners released Wednesday in an amnesty to mark the traditional Thingyan New Year holiday.  A relative and colleague confirmed security forces and officials came to his home Wednesday night and took him away for what they said was for his own protection. The army took over Myanmar’s government in 2021 and the conflict that followed has degenerated to a civil war. Kachin guerrillas have played a large role in the resistance movement.