MAE SOT, Thailand — Two Baptist pastors who had disappeared Dec. 24, 2016, after visiting a military base in northeastern Burma have been located.
On Jan. 25 the Burma military charged Dumdaw Nawng Latt, 65, and his nephew, Langjaw Gam Hseng, 35, for unlawful association with an armed ethnic group, an accusation the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) church leaders deny. The men face at least eight years in prison based on their charges. They were arrested Dec. 24, 2016, for helping journalists cover the Burma military’s Nov. 23–24 bombing of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church building, The Alabama Baptist reported in the Feb. 2 issue.
Zau Rau, an official from KBC in Muse Town, Shan State, visited the two pastors recently and confirmed their good health.
The military has accused the two men of serving as “informers and spreading false news on behalf of the armed insurgents,” according to a report by the Information Committee of the State Counsellor’s Office. They also have accused the two pastors of recruiting and spying for ethnic armed groups such as the Kachin Independence Army. (MS)
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