European scholars of religion and human rights experts are urging the South Korean government to release Lee Man-hee, the 95-year-old Chairman of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, who has been detained since June 24 on charges related to alleged political party mass registrations. The detention has sparked international criticism, with academics and advocates arguing it violates international law and tarnishes South Korea's image as a democracy.
Chairman Lee was indicted on June 29 on charges including violations of the Political Parties Act, accused of directing approximately 50,000 church members to register with a specific political party between July 2021 and January 2024. Shincheonji Church has countered that individual members freely participated in political activities and that both Lee and the church have fully cooperated with the investigation, expressing regret that detaining a 95-year-old amounts to physical punishment.
At the Ninth Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe) held in Rome on July 3, the situation was addressed during a session titled "Shincheonji, a Korean New Religion in Global Context." Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a sociologist of religion and founder of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), stated, "In all European Union countries, legislation mandates that those older than 80 should only exceptionally be put in jail... Here, of course, there are no blood crimes, and the accusations are violations of electoral law." He added that the detention violates the United Nations' Mandela Rules, which discourage preliminary detention for elderly prisoners, calling it "an unmitigated scandal which hides a political and religious vendetta."
Eric Roux, president of the European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom (EIFRF), echoed these sentiments, saying, "A man of 95 years old being put in jail is not something that you can reconcile with the objective of respecting human dignity... I would suggest that this be reviewed very fast to avoid something that would be very detrimental to the reputation of South Korea." Human rights lawyer Alessandro Amicarelli, chairman of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB), expressed shock, noting that he had always considered South Korea a true democracy but now sees it departing from its own constitutional foundations.
International human rights organizations United for Human Rights and Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC) submitted a joint written statement to the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on May 25 (A/HRC/62/NGO/236), assessing that the situation has intensified and that framing members' political registration as "religion–politics collusion" is inconsistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the right to participate in political life. They noted that a joint police-prosecutor task force was created explicitly targeting Shincheonji, and senior officials have publicly called the group a "criminal organization," undermining the presumption of innocence.
Shincheonji Church emphasized that the detention has become an international human rights issue, with growing support and petitions from prominent figures. The church stated, "The prompt release of Chairman Lee is a matter of safeguarding freedom of religion and human rights, which are core values of democracy."
