The military council is preparing to file charges against Hkalam Samson, a Kachin leader detained on Dec. 5 at Myitkyina Airport. Samson is an advisor to the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC). “Four executives from our organization went to the minister. We learned that the Sayadaw [Hkalam Samson] would be charged.  We will work for his release by forming a new committee and connecting with other relevant people,” said Lahpai Zau Ra, the deputy general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC). 

Lahpai Zau Ra explained in a video message that the KBC was informed that some of Samson’s sermons violated the law. Samson was arrested at Myitkyina airport after being briefly detained at Mandalay International Airport, on his way to Bangkok for medical treatment, on Dec. 5. “His family members have not been able to contact him yet. It has been four days,” a source told DVB. U.K.-based human rights group Global Witness issued a statement on Dec. 6 demanding Samson’s unconditional release.