The European Academy of Religion (EuARe) and other international scholars are pressing South Korea to release Lee Man-hee, the 95-year-old Chairman of Shincheonji Church, who has been detained since June 24 on charges including violations of the Political Parties Act. The Joint Police–Prosecution Investigation Headquarters alleges that Lee directed the mass registration of approximately 50,000 church members into a political party between July 2021 and January 2024. Shincheonji Church has denied the allegations, stating that members freely participated in politics and that both Lee and the church cooperated fully with the investigation.
At EuARe's Ninth Annual Conference in Rome on July 3, scholars addressed the case 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), criticized the detention, noting that European Union laws mandate that those over 80 should only be jailed in exceptional cases, typically for violent crimes. "What Korea is doing to this elderly religious leader is in violation of international law, including the United Nations' so-called Mandela Rules," he said, calling the situation "an unmitigated scandal, which hides a political and religious vendetta." Eric Roux, President of the European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom (EIFRF), echoed these concerns, stating, "A man of 95 years old being put in jail is not something that you can reconcile with the objective of respecting human dignity."
Human rights lawyer Alessandro Amicarelli, Chairman of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB), expressed alarm, saying, "As a human rights lawyer, I always considered South Korea a true democracy where human rights are upheld like a foundation of the democracy. Unfortunately, what's happening now is truly shocking." He added that the detention appears to depart from South Korea's own constitutional human rights foundations. The 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 statement to the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on May 25, assessing that the situation has intensified and that framing political party registration as "religion–politics collusion" is inconsistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Shincheonji Church emphasized that the detention has become an international human rights issue, with growing support from prominent figures worldwide. 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." For more information, visit Shincheonji Church's website or SCJ TV Global.
