Chairman Lee Man-hee Responds to Arrest Warrant Issuance
"Only Expressed Concern Over Excessive Personal Information Requests"
Lee Man-hee, the president of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), is seen walking away after finishing a press conference related to the COVID-19 situation held in March at the Shincheonji Palace of Peace in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Lee Man-hee, the president (89) of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (hereafter Shincheonji), was arrested on the 1st. Regarding this, Shincheonji stated, "We never instructed to omit names with the intention of obstructing quarantine efforts." Earlier, the prosecution requested an arrest warrant for President Lee on charges of obstructing COVID-19 quarantine activities, and the court issued it early that morning.
In an email sent to reporters on the same day, Shincheonji said, "When a mass COVID-19 infection occurred at the Daegu church in February, Shincheonji Church of Jesus actively cooperated with the quarantine authorities," adding, "The president expressed concerns about the excessive personal information requests from the quarantine authorities."
In late February, after a large-scale cluster infection centered on Shincheonji believers in the Daegu area was confirmed, the quarantine authorities requested the list of believers to take swift action. Although the first patient was confirmed on February 18, it was judged that the virus had spread through worship meetings since early February, making it important to quickly identify and isolate contacts. At that time, the quarantine authorities reportedly requested resident registration numbers, addresses, and contact information of domestic and overseas believers from Shincheonji.
Shincheonji stated, "The defense team sufficiently explained these facts within the scope of the truth to the court, but it is regrettable that the arrest warrant was issued," adding, "The issuance of the arrest warrant by the court does not mean a guilty verdict, and we will do our best to reveal the truth in the upcoming trial."
Earlier, Lee Myung-cheol, the judge in charge of the arrest warrant at Suwon District Court, who conducted the pre-arrest interrogation of President Lee, said, "Although there is some room for dispute regarding the criminal facts, part of the charges have been substantiated," and issued the arrest warrant. The judge stated, "During the investigation, circumstances of organized evidence destruction were found, and considering the suspect's position within the religious organization, it is difficult to exclude the possibility of further evidence destruction," adding, "Although he is elderly and has underlying diseases, it does not appear that detention would be significantly difficult." After the warrant review, President Lee, who was waiting for the result at Suwon Detention Center, was arrested as is.
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