Detention of 95-Year-Old Religious Leader Violates International Law, European Scholars Argue

European scholars of religion have issued strong appeals to the South Korean government, demanding the release of Lee Man-hee, the 95-year-old Chairman of the Shincheonji Church, who remains in detention. The scholars argue that his continued imprisonment violates international law and damages South Korea's reputation.

Chairman Lee was detained on June 24 on charges including violations of the Political Parties Act and was indicted on June 30. Authorities allege that between July 2021 and January 2024, he directed the mass registration of approximately 50,000 church members into a specific political party. Shincheonji Church, however, maintains that individual members participated freely in political activities and that both Lee and the church have fully cooperated with the investigation.

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In all European Union countries, legislation mandates that, those older than 80, only exceptionally, should be put in jail; they should be under house arrest if needed, and only for violent crimes, if there is a risk of actual violence connected with blood crimes. Here, of course, there are no blood crimes, and the accusations are violations of electoral law.

The Shincheonji Church expressed deep regret over the detention, stating that imprisoning a 95-year-old man constitutes a form of physical punishment. This sentiment was echoed by religious scholars who addressed the situation at the European Academy of Religion’s Ninth Annual Conference in Rome on July 3.

During a session on Shincheonji Church, Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a sociologist of religion and Founder of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), commented on the detention. He argued that in European Union countries, jailing individuals over 80 is exceptional and typically reserved for violent crimes, with house arrest being the preferred measure. Introvigne stated that Lee's detention for alleged violations of electoral law, without any connection to violent crimes, contravenes international law, including the United Nations' Mandela Rules, which advocate against preliminary detention for elderly prisoners except in very limited circumstances. He described the situation as an "unmitigated scandal" with political undertones.

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And what Korea is doing to this elderly religious leader is in violation of international law, including the United Nations’ so-called Mandela Rules, which mandate that preliminary detention should be, in general, not the rule, and only in an extremely limited number of exceptional cases may be applied to elderly prisoners. So what is happening is an unmitigated scandal, which hides a political and r