A South Korean court approved on Saturday the arrest of the founder of a controversial church at the centre of the country’s largest batch of COVID-19 infections, Yonhap news agency reported, APA reports quoting Reuters.
The Suwon District Court approved an arrest warrant for Lee Man-hee, founder and head of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive sect linked to more than 5,200 confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea, or 36% of total cases, according to the country’s Central Disease Control headquarters as of Friday.
A Shincheonji spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Suwon District Court and prosecution officials could not be reached outside of office hours.
Prosecutors suspect Lee of conspiring with sect leaders to hold back some of its membership data and information on meeting places when reporting to health authorities during the height of the outbreak linked to the sect in February, Yonhap said.
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