A court in military-ruled Myanmar has dismissed an appeal by a prominent ethnic Christian leader four weeks after he was imprisoned and a day before thousands of political prisoners were freed.
Myitkyina Prison Court in Kachin state rejected an appeal from Dr. Hkalam Samson on May 2, according to media reports, quoting the defendant’s lawyer.
His lawyer told reporters that Samson, a former leader of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) who was sentenced by the same court on April 7 to six years in prison for unlawful association, defaming the state and terrorism, will appeal to higher courts.
The prison court rejected his appeal a day before 2,135 political prisoners were freed from various prisons across the country on May 3, the day Myanmar marked Vesak, an auspicious day in the Buddhist majority nation.
Most of those who benefited had been sentenced under Section 505(a) of the penal code for inciting opposition to the military regime, which carries a maximum jail term of three years.
More than 21,000 people have been arrested since the military seized power after toppling Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian government on Feb.1, 2021, according to a local monitoring group.

Amnesty International said in a report that it is deeply concerned about thousands of individuals still unjustly languishing in prisons across Myanmar, including Samson.

“This long overdue release should mark the first step towards the immediate release of all individuals who have been arbitrarily detained for exercising their basic rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly or other human rights,” Ming Ye Hah, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns, said in a statement on May 3.