20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Government of Burma for the immediate release of Reverend Hklam Samson, allegedly detained on “politically motivated” charges.
Human Rights Watch has urged Myanmar’s military junta to drop charges against the Kachin state religious leader, who is accused of anti-terrorism offenses and is due to be heard next on February 21 in a special court inside Burma prison. Myitkyina.
“The junta’s politically motivated case against the Rev. Hkalam Samson, internationally recognized for his humanitarian and community work, shows that no one is safe in Burma,” said HRW Asia director Elaine Pearson.
Samson was arrested on December 5, 2022 at the Mandalay International Airport and since then, the authorities have not revealed his whereabouts.
Myanmar’s military junta has charged the reverend under the Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly holding meetings with leaders of ethnic Kachin armed groups, as well as for incitement after holding a group prayer with members of the opposition. .
As detailed by HRW, Hklam Samson is the former head of the Kachin State Baptist Convention and the president of the National Consultative Assembly of the same state, a body that favored peace negotiations with the previous civilian government of the National League for Democracy party.
Samson has openly denounced Burmese ethnic and religious persecution, especially of the country’s minority Christian groups.
“The prosecution of a high-profile Kachin religious figure like Reverend Samson is a heavy-handed attempt to cool down all dissent among ethnic minority leaders,” Pearson said, while also calling for the release of other people detained illegally. unfair since the February 2021 coup.
A total of approximately 3,000 civilians have died in Burma due to the repression by the military since the coup led by the Army, as denounced by the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners of Burma (AAPP), one of the most important opposition activist organizations. highlights of the country.
The regime, it should be remembered, agreed at the beginning of February that the current state of emergency remain in force for at least six more months, which opens the door to maintaining a repression that became especially evident in the weeks after the coup against the Government by Aung San Suu Kyi.
