A preacher who claimed faith in Christ could protect people from coronavirus before contracting the virus himself has been arrested for defying the ban on large gatherings.
Police detained David Lah on Wednesday on charges filed in April, when the preacher held several sermons and told one crowd that “if you are walking the true path and have the whole of Christ in your heart, you will not get” Covid-19. He is being held at Insein prison.
At least 72 people who have tested positive for the virus contracted it at events held by Lah and his associates, or via people who had attended. They included Lah himself and the rock singer Myo Gyi.
Lah was discharged from Wai Bar Gi hospital two weeks ago and then went into quarantine at a hotel in downtown Yangon. He finished his quarantine on Tuesday, prompting the arrest.
Lah was charged alongside pastor Saw Kwe Wah, minister Ray Gandi and Wai Tun, one of their followers, on April 13.
The Yangon Covid-19 Control and Emergency Response Committee said the men had breached the 2013 Natural Disaster Management Law for holding religious events in defiance of a ban on gatherings.
One event that Lah and Wai Tun held was a crowded gathering on April 7 at the Hebron Brethren Assembly Hall in Mayangone township in Yangon.
They and the two others face up to three years in prison for committing a “negligent act” or an act “by willful action” that causes harm during a disaster.
Several others have been charged under the law in Myanmar for defying rules aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.
Mayangone township court on Wednesday remanded Lah in custody for two weeks and will hold the next hearing on June 3. Saw Kwe Wah’s next hearing will be on June 2, an official at Insein police station told Myanmar Now. Ray Gandi is still receiving treatment at Wai Bar Gi hospital, the official said.
It is not clear what stage the case against Wai Tun is at.
Lah’s sermons have been criticised by many – including Myanmar’s Christian community – as Islamophobic and anti-LGBT.
Lah’s Facebook page describes him as a Myanmar-born preacher and resident of Toronto, Canada, who tours internationally preaching the gospel.
So far the health ministry has announced 193 coronavirus cases after testing 15,838 samples. Patients are often tested multiple times, so the number of people tested is lower than that figure.
Six have died so far and 104 have recovered. Most cases, 149, are concentrated in Yangon region.
Writing by Tin Htet Paing
