Pastor David Lah and his colleague, Myanmar national Wai Tun, were charged in April with violating Myanmar’s Natural Disaster and Management Law by holding services in the city of Yangon, the AFP reports. Though based in Toronto, Lah was born in Myanmar and often returns to his motherland to preach.

On Thursday, both men were convicted of breaking administrative rules and given a three-month hard labour sentence, Maung Soe, a judge at Yangon’s Mayangone Township court, told reporters.

Myanmar imposed a ban on mass gatherings in mid-March in response to the novel coronavirus. However, footage emerged in early April of Lah holding a service in Yangon.

Weeks later, about twenty people connected to his gatherings tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including Pastor Lah. However, it is possible that attendees contracted the virus elsewhere. 

The preacher was arrested after recovering from the illness in May and faced up to three years in jail. On Thursday, a waiting crowd of the preacher’s followers erupted into cheers and celebrations at the news of his reduced sentence, according to the AFP.

Religious persecution watchdog International Christian Concern previously reported that because of Lah’s actions, many Christians in Myanmar “face criticism and have sensed hostilities toward them in the Buddhist majority country.”

Open Doors ranks Myanmar at nineteenth on its 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it’s most difficult to be a Christian.

Source: christianpost.com

Image: aljazeera.com