Local governments take legal action against Shincheonji

Local government chiefs are taking legal action against the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Christian sect at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak, filing complaints against its branch heads and asking that they be charged with multiple offenses including murder.

The Seoul City government filed complaints with the prosecution against Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee and 12 branch heads alleging murder, inflicting injuries and violation of the law on the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

“We can handle the infectious disease quickly only if we investigate them,” Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

“Had they taken proactive measures, they could have prevented so many people from dying or getting hurt.”

Seoul City filed the complaints with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Sunday evening, saying the Shincheonji leaders are “refusing to be tested, and did not take any action to cooperate with the health authorities to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” a city official said.

Other local government chiefs are taking legal action against Shincheonji for allegedly omitting names from their list of church members, violating home quarantine conditions and refusing to go to hospitals.

Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin filed complaints with the police on Friday against members of the Shincheonji church in Daegu, saying they had violated the law on the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

The Daegu City government claimed the Shincheonji members intentionally omitted names when they handed in the list of church members.

“The defendant is not just one person, but can be unspecified individuals. We will consider filing complaints against (Shincheonji followers) who denied being church members during the epidemiological survey,” a Daegu City official said.

Shincheonji said on its website that it had not lied about its membership numbers.

“We didn’t submit a list of our trainees at first as they are not church members, and later submitted it after consultations between our headquarters and the government,” Shincheonji said.

The provincial government of Gangwon requested a police investigation into suspicions that one of the two Shincheonji followers who were confirmed positive for COVID-19 in Chuncheon lied about the places she had been, and called for strong legal action.

“We were informed by the police that CCTV footage, credit card records and location tracking on the phone showed that what she said about her whereabouts didn’t match where she had actually been,” Gangwon Province Gov. Choi Moon-son said in a press briefing Sunday.

“A thorough scrutiny of Shincheonji is crucial in this situation. We have filed for an administrative investigation so far, but since this is too slow, the criminal justice system must intervene.”

Daegu City filed complaints with the police against five people, including three nurses and a caregiver it accused of obstructing measures to contain COVID-19 by violating home quarantine rules.

The city government also plans to file complaints against people who refused to be admitted to hospitals or lied during epidemiological surveys.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)