European scholars of religion 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 violations of the Political Parties Act. The scholars, speaking at the Ninth Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe) in Rome on July 3, argued that the detention of an elderly religious leader for non-violent allegations contravenes international human rights standards and undermines South Korea's standing as a democracy.
Chairman Lee was indicted on June 29 by the Joint Police–Prosecution Investigation Headquarters, which alleges that between July 2021 and January 2024, he directed the mass registration of approximately 50,000 church members into a particular political party. In response, Shincheonji Church stated that individual members freely participated in political activities and that both Chairman Lee and the church have cooperated fully with the investigation. The church expressed deep regret, describing the detention of a 95-year-old as a form of physical punishment.
Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a sociologist of religion and founder of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), commented that in all European Union countries, legislation mandates that those over 80 should only exceptionally be jailed, and only for violent crimes. "Here, of course, there are no blood crimes, and the accusations are violations of electoral law," he said. "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 not the rule and only in extremely limited cases applied to elderly prisoners. So what is happening is an unmitigated scandal, which hides a political and religious vendetta."
Eric Roux, president of the European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom (EIFRF), reiterated the injustice. "A man of 95 years old being put in jail is not something that you can reconcile with the objective of respecting human dignity," he said. "Even if what you pretend he has done is true, you would not put a man of this age in prison. So 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 concern. "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. We cannot accept that a religious leader in a democratic country, at the age of 95, has to be under this kind of pressure." He added, "It looks like South Korea is departing from its own Constitution, its own human rights foundation."
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 on May 25, assessing that "the situation has intensified" in South Korea and noting that framing members' registration with a political party as evidence of "religion–politics collusion" is inconsistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The statement also referenced that in December 2025, the president ordered the creation of a joint police–prosecutor task force explicitly targeting Shincheonji, and senior officials have publicly referred to the church as a "criminal organization," statements incompatible with 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 in the international community. 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."
