MANDALAY (Agencies) David Lah, a Protestant pastor in Myanmar, was denied bail on June 3 by a court in Yangon after he was arrested for holding church services in defiance the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) lockdown restrictions UCAN reported on June 4. Along with three others, he was charged with defying a ban on large gatherings imposed to tackle the pandemic on March 13. They could face three years in prison under the 2013 Natural Disaster Management Law. The next court hearing is on June 8.
Lah was arrested on May 20 after spending 21-days in quarantine in a hotel in Yangon recovering from the coronavirus, which he and dozens of his followers and their families contracted in April, UCAN reported.
In a video clip that went viral in mid-April, the pastor told worshipers that those who are really centred on Christ would not be infected by Covid-19.
“If people hold the Bible and Jesus in their hearts, the disease will not come in,” The Guardian reported him as telling a roomful of followers.
“The only person who can cure and give peace in this pandemic is Jesus,” he said.
The Guardian reported that shortly afterwards, Lah tested positive with coronavirus and that figures released by the government show dozens of confirmed cases could be traced back to his followers.
Lah, a Myanmar-born Canadian passport holder, is a controversial figure due to his polarising views. He is also widely criticised for his anti-LGBT and Islamophobic rhetoric.
Lah’s case also drew the attention of state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi, who urged people to use their strength to fight the contagion in unity to overcome the common enemy, La Croix reported.
Some, however, felt his arrest was less than altruistic.
La Croix, citing a May 22 story in the Christian Post, reported Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, as saying, “We are not fans of superstitious comments like Lah’s claim that Christians are immune from Covid-19.
King claimed, “This case just smacks of persecution. He is not the only one who disobeyed the ban, so where’s the line-up of Buddhists who have been charged?” he asked, alluding to an incident on March 24 in which senior officials from Yangon’s regional government, including chief minister, Phyo Min Thein, attended a Buddhist festival that drew much criticism on Facebook.
At least 71 people in Yangon have been linked to Lah’s church services in Insein and Mayagone townships.
Myanmar has reported 246 Covid-19 cases including six deaths and 159 recoveries, according to the latest data.
