Lee Man-hee, Shincheonji Chairman, Appears in Court... Decision on Detention Expected Today

Lee Man-hee, President of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji)
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Lee Man-hee, the president of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), appeared before the detention hearing on the 31st. He is accused of obstructing the government's efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

At 10:30 a.m. on the same day, Lee Myung-cheol, the chief judge in charge of warrants at Suwon District Court, held a pre-detention suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for President Lee and is currently reviewing the necessity of detention. The decision on detention is expected to be made late at night or early the next morning.

President Lee is suspected of reporting a reduced list of believers and meeting locations to the quarantine authorities in February when COVID-19 was spreading mainly through Shincheonji. He is also accused of embezzling 5.6 billion KRW, including using about 5 billion KRW of church funds while constructing the Peace Palace, Shincheonji's training center. The prosecution also included charges that President Lee unlawfully entered public facilities in Suwon and Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, without local government permission and repeatedly held religious events.

At the end of February, President Lee was reported to the National Shincheonji Victims Solidarity (Jeonpiyeon) for violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and embezzlement and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Seung-dae), which is investigating this case, summoned President Lee twice on the 17th and 23rd for questioning and requested an arrest warrant on the 28th. Previously, the prosecution arrested and indicted three Shincheonji executives facing similar charges and indicted four others without detention.

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