[ENG Trans.] Shin Cheon-ji's bare face revealed at the trial...And what about the judgment of the law?
Nov. 30, 2020 ENG translation
Original Source: https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/5455799 (KOR)
Reporter No Cut News Lee Joon-suk
Registration Date: Nov. 30, 2020 05:40
휠체어를 타고 수원지법으로 들어가고 있는 이단 신천지 이만희 교주. (사진=이한형기자) Lee Man-hee, the leader of cult Shincheonji, who is entering the Suwon District Court in a wheelchair.
In February, Lee Man-hee, who said "I apologize to the people" at the time when Corona 19 was spreading through Shincheonji in Daegu, changed her face, saying, "I don't know," and "I've never ordered," when the prosecution began its investigation.
Whether or not the leader will be ordered on all charges has been an issue in the trial, and depending on what judgment the court makes on this part, it is expected that the sentence will have a significant impact on the judge's sentence.
◇Manipulate the list of believers...the issue of whether Lee Man-hee should be ordered or not.
According to the Suwon District Court and other legal circles on the 29th, the leader is suspected of violating the Act on the Prevention of Infectious Diseases, violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, obstructing the execution of official duties by hierarchy, and obstructing work.
Among them, the prosecution made all-out efforts to prove the alleged violation of the infectious disease prevention law and embezzlement, which is at the heart of the trial.
In the case of the Act on the Prevention of Infectious Diseases, when the Daegu Shincheonji incident related to Corona 19 occurred in February, it was suspected that the list of believers and the venue of the rally were reduced and manipulated, and that it interfered with the authorities' quarantine measures.
At the time, it was raised that Shincheonji, which had expanded its organization through the so-called "picking out believers" known through various media outlets, intentionally omitted or manipulated the list to avoid exposing secret believers, and in fact, the manipulation of the list was confirmed to be true in Gyeonggi Province during the quarantine process.
In the trial, the fabricated resident registration numbers of believers were also an issue.
Prosecutors claimed that the submission list was fabricated when A, a witness who is a manager of internal affairs department of the General Assembly of Shincheonji, disclosed a phone call containing circumstantial evidence that A ordered the administrative secretary B to delete his personal information.
The released phone call included the contents of A's ordering secretary B to "delete it because it could be difficult if my personal information is released," and the secretary replied, "It was deleted."
Circumstances have also been revealed that the leader ordered the omission of the list of believers.
Looking at the phone conversation between the leader Lee and the secretary C released by the prosecution, the leader Lee asked, "Do they want everything from people who are not related to the disease (Corona 19)? What would people say if you give them all the names and the addresses?" he ordered guidelines for submitting the list.
In addition, the leader Lee pressed C, saying, "Not only the government but also anyone can't ask for our addresses and list. We are suffering tremendous damage from what we've told them."
In response to the prosecution's claim that the leader Lee was directly involved in the manipulation of the submission list based on such evidence, the believers of Shincheonji, who were witnesses, consistently denied his connection with the leader and defended him.
"Shincheonji is no different from the communist regime and the dictatorship," said Shin Hyun-wook, a former senior official of Shincheonji and the director of the Guri Group Counseling Center. "It is safe to say that everything that happens in Shincheonji is under the orders of the leader."
"If the court judges that false submission of the list of believers and facilities is not related to the leader Lee, the case could be concluded by punishing working-level officials," a lawyer who was a prosecutor said. "However, if the court recognizes the special nature of religious groups such as the Shincheonji command system proposed by the prosecution, it will not be easy for the leader Lee to clear the charges."
◇The prospect of being guilty of embezzlement...How far will it be acknowledged?
가평 평화의 궁전. (사진=이한형 기자) Peace Palace in Gapyeong (photo by Lee Han-hyung)
At issue with the alleged embezzlement is what the palace of peace, which cost billions of won, was used for, and who was the actual manager of the bank account used for embezzlement.
Prosecutors claim that the leader Lee spent money to build a palace of peace to prepare a honeymoon house with his mistress, while the leader Lee's lawyer claims that the palace was used for training purposes.
During the trial, it was revealed that the leader Lee and former leader of International Women's Peace Group, Kim Nam-hee, used the palace as their private home. The former leader (of IWPG) was once called the No. 2 on Shincheonji as the leader's mistress, but left Shincheonji in 2017.
According to the evidence presented by the prosecution, Kim and Lee spent 1.9 billion won each to buy the site, and then 3.3 billion won to build a palace of peace, where Kim set up a closet and a kitchen on the second floor, while Lee lived on the third floor.
Kim spent all the money on building the Peace Palace at her own expense, and the leader Lee collected funds from Sincheonji to pay for the construction.
"I've never seen training held in the Palace of Peace," Kim said. "It's been used as the leader Lee's private home except when inviting outside figures when the WARP is held."
However, (the lawyers of) the leader Lee refuted the claim, saying, "It has been confirmed that there have been 10 to 20 official events every year, including 48 events from September to December 2014."
If it is recognized that the leader Lee used the Peace Palace for personal use, as the prosecution claims, the charges of embezzlement will be proven as part of the Shinchonji fund was spent on the construction.
In addition, the leader Lee was found to have received 130 million won in checks from the Matthia Tribe leader in the name of the yacht purchase, and received at least 2 million won to as much as 10 million won on dozens of occasions while conducting missionary work overseas.
This was revealed through the leader Lee's personal account transaction details presented by the prosecution as evidence, and the prosecution found that about 1.1 billion won in checks and cash were deposited into the account.
However, the leader Lee claims that Kim was in charge of managing the account.
As the leader Lee and Kim are filing various lawsuits against each other over property ownership, the actual manager of the account is still shrouded in mystery.
One lawyer said, "At the preparatory session, the leader Lee's lawyer claimed that he had returned all the damages, but he had already committed a crime when he had touched on the funds of the group and the corporation."
"However, it remains to be seen how the court will judge the flow of funds and the scope of the amount of embezzlement and give a serious sentence," he said.
"If the court recognizes the amount of embezzlement as more than 5 billion won as the prosecution filed the charges, the leader Lee will be sentenced to more than five years in prison for the charges alone," he said.
After the 14th trial, the court will wrap up the examination of witnesses and proceed with the Dec. 9 decision trial. In the final trial, the defendant's interrogation, the prosecution's sentence, the lawyer's final statement and the defendant's final statement are scheduled.
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