BY GILBERT MUNETSI
A top local clergyman has added his voice to many others the world over calling for the release of a Korean human rights activist and church leader who was recently incarcerated for allegedly failing to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
Ma Hee Lee (89) (pictured below), leader of a global advocacy to declare peace and cease all forms of aggression is being persecuted by South Korea authorities and has since been classified as a “murderer” after he was accused of being instrumental in the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Against this background, the secretary-general for the Federation of Indigenous Churches, Reverend Mathias Tsine, has spoken against the arrest of “Chairman Lee”, saying he has witnessed the various efforts the detained leader has done over the years to promote global peace.
“Today I come with a testimony of an 89-year-old wise man who is leading a global advocacy to declare peace and cease all forms of aggression as enshrined in the DPCW. Coincidentally Heavenly Culture, World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL) chairman and leader of Shincheonji Church, Man Hee Lee, is being persecuted by the South Korean authorities as a murderer under the guise of the church being instrumental in spreading a global pandemic (Covid-19).
“The proposed closure of the two institutions he leads and prosecution of the chairman cannot go unchallenged, as it is against the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 18.
Reverend Tsine, in his solidarity with the embattled leader, further noted that as Zimbabwe marked its 40 years of independence this year, the country had strived to maintain peace with periods of escalation and political disturbances emanating from differences over national power, economic hardships, and pre-colonial disputes.
“The realisation of peace continues to be a global struggle. This is more so when the voices of those who fight for peace are not supported or rather are muzzled,” said Reverend Tsine.
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On August 1, Lee Man Hee, leader of an international peace non-governmental organisation associated with UN ECOSOC and UN DGC, was detained amid investigations pinning the blame for South Korea’s Covid-19 outbreak on his church.
Lee, who is the founder of HWPL as well as the chairman of a religious movement called Shincheonji in South Korea, facilitated the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) summit which united various leaders around the world in developing strategies to achieve peace.
