MANDALAY (UCAN): Controversial Myanmar-born Protestant pastor, David Lah, and his colleague, Wai Tun, were sentenced to a three-month jail term by a court in Yangon, after being found guilty of defying the country’s Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) lockdown restrictions, according to media reports.
The final verdict came after several court hearings in June and July.
Lah and three others were charged with defying a ban on large gatherings imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic on March 13. They faced three years in prison under the 2013 Natural Disaster Management Law (Sunday Examiner, June 14).
Lah was arrested on May 20 after spending 21-days in quarantine in a hotel in Yangon recovering from the Covid-19, which he and dozens of his followers and their families contracted in April.
In a video clip that went viral in mid-April, the pastor told his followers that those who are really centred on Christ would not be infected by Covid-19.
With a surge in religious bigotry on social media following the activities of the pastor, Christian leaders in Myanmar have appealed to people to unite in the fight against Covid-19.
Lah, who also holds a Canadian passport, is a controversial figure because of his polarising views and also widely criticised for his anti-LGBT and Islamophobic rhetoric.
At least 71 people in Yangon who have been infected were linked to Lah’s church services in Insein and Mayagone townships.
Myanmar has reported 360 Covid-19 cases including six deaths and 312 recoveries, according to the latest data.
