European scholars of religion are making strong appeals to the South Korean government to release Lee Man-hee, the 95-year-old Chairman of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, who remains in detention. The detention has drawn sharp criticism from academics and human rights experts who argue it violates international law and tarnishes South Korea's standing as a democracy.
Chairman Lee was detained on June 24 on charges including violations of the Political Parties Act and was indicted on June 29. The Joint Police–Prosecution Investigation Headquarters 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 faithfully cooperated throughout the entire investigation process. The church expressed deep regret, stating that detaining an elderly man aged 95 amounts to a form of physical punishment.
The European Academy of Religion (EuARe) held its Ninth Annual Conference in Rome, Italy, on July 3, where the circumstances surrounding Shincheonji Church were addressed. During the session titled "Shincheonji, a Korean New Religion in Global Context," European scholars presented academic papers and shared the recent situation in South Korea, including the detention of Chairman Lee.
Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a sociologist of religion and founder of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), commented: "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. Here, of course, there are no blood crimes, and the accusations are violations of electoral law." He added that what Korea is doing violates international law, including the United Nations' Mandela Rules, which state that preliminary detention should be exceptional and rarely applied to elderly prisoners. He called the situation "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. Even if what you pretend he has done is true, you would not put a man of this age in prison. 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, a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales and 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. 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. It looks like South Korea is departing from its own Constitution and 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 (UNHRC) on May 25 (A/HRC/62/NGO/236 circulated on June 10). The statement assessed that "the situation has intensified" in South Korea and noted 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 (ICCPR). The organizations further stated 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," incompatible with the presumption of innocence.
Shincheonji Church noted that support and petitions from prominent figures in the international community continue to grow, mounting pressure on the South Korean government and judiciary. The church emphasized that the prompt release of Chairman Lee is a matter of safeguarding freedom of religion and human rights, core values of democracy.
