Police given the go ahead to probe allegations on Grace Road leader
South Korean authorities have contacted the Fiji Police Force in regard to allegations against the Grace Road Group founder Shin Ok-ju.
The Commissioner of Police, Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho, confirmed this and said that a team had started preliminary investigations while awaiting official notification. Meanwhile, an AFP report published on The Japan Times website has reported that Shin Ok-ju was arrested for allegedly holding some 400 followers captive in Fiji. Ms Shin, founder of the Grace Road Church, and three other leaders were arrested when they arrived at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport last week. “Pastor Shin and the three others face charges of using violence in forcing followers to stay in Fiji,” a police official said.
The report said that the Ms Shin convinced her followers to move to Fiji in 2014, claiming they would be safe there from imminent natural disasters.
The report also said once they arrived, their passports were confiscated and many were allegedly subjected to rituals purportedly aimed at driving out evil spirits. AFP said some followers, who escaped, told journalists that those who attempted to leave the church were subjected to severe public beatings known as “ground thrashings.”
But a recent statement from Grace Road said that Ms Shin was arrested on false claims. It says that these claims had gone too far.
The statement says the Grace Road Group consists of 150 investors and their families, who believed in their vision and volunteered to come to Fiji.
“With 220 local employees, we want to expand our businesses and provide the quality products and services to the local and overseas market,” it said. “Through this, we want to encourage the communities to aim high and build the Fiji nation together.”