Hkalam Samson, the former chairperson of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), was released from regime detention, where he’s been held over the last three months, on Monday.

Samson was serving a six-year prison sentence but freed during a regime amnesty to mark the Myanmar New Year on April 17. He was re-arrested at his home in Myitkyina, Kachin State later that same day.

A source close to his family told DVB that Samson was ordered to be released on July 22. The U.S. Embassy in Yangon welcomed this news, calling him a persecuted religious leader in Myanmar.

“We are pleased that he is finally able to return home to his family and continue his important work,” stated the U.S. Embassy. It went on to call for the release of all political prisoners “unjustly detained” in Myanmar.

Samson was first arrested by the military at Mandalay International Airport on Dec. 5, 2022 while he was enroute to Bangkok, Thailand to seek medical treatment. 

He was sentenced to six years under the Counter-Terrorism Law and the Unlawful Associations Act on April 7, 2023 for allegedly attending a meeting hosted by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO/KIA). 

Samson was then released in the regime amnesty last April but was re-arrested by soldiers and taken to an unknown regime detention facility.

“Around 30 soldiers arrived at his home claiming it was for his own security. Later that night, another 50 soldiers arrived and took him. They said they will send him back the next morning after questioning,” said a Myitkyina resident.

An anonymous source close to Samson’s family told The 74 Media in April that they were told by the Prisons Department that it had arranged a place for him to stay over “security concerns.”

Samson is a prominent religious leader in the Kachin community. He met with former U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in 2019 to discuss the persecution of religious minorities in Myanmar.