Shincheonji Leader Lee Man-hee Arrested Despite Plea of "Advanced Age of 95"

[Anchor]

An arrest warrant has been issued for Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, who is suspected of forcing church members to join the People Power Party. The court determined that there is a risk of evidence destruction.

Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong has the story.

[Reporter]

The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee on charges of violating the Political Parties Act.

The court stated that the warrant was issued due to concerns that Lee might destroy evidence.

Lee is accused of attempting to force church members to join the People Power Party to support Yoon Suk-yeol during the party's presidential primary in 2021, and again during the 22nd general election in 2024, in an effort to receive help in resolving church-related issues.

Earlier, Lee arrived at the court using a cane and underwent a pre-arrest interrogation that lasted about three hours. He did not respond to any questions from reporters before or after the hearing.

[Lee Man-hee/Shincheonji Leader: (Did you order members to join the People Power Party to support former President Yoon?) ... (Did you order mass enrollment to exert influence on the People Power Party during the general election?) ...]

The joint investigation team believes that Shincheonji, under the name of the "Pilates Project," enrolled over 50,000 members into the People Power Party, and that Lee was the one who ordered it.

Lee's side argued that he had faithfully complied with summons and investigations, and that as a 95-year-old born in 1931, he posed no flight risk. However, the court did not accept these arguments.

Lee, the central figure in the allegations surrounding Shincheonji, has been arrested 169 days after the launch of the joint prosecution and police investigation team in January to probe corruption involving the collusion between religion and politics. The joint investigation team plans to examine whether there was any involvement or requests from the political sphere behind the organized enrollment of church members.

(Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.