18th February, 2015
Five Lao Christians have been found guilty of causing a woman’s death by "performance of the medical profession without a licence" after praying for her.
The five Christian pastors and leaders were last year cleared of murder charges relating to the death of the woman – a Protestant Christian convert, Mrs Chansee (also known as Mrs Chan), who died from an unidentified long-term illness on 21st June.
The non-profit advocacy Human Rights Watcher for Lao Religious Freedomsaid the five were convicted by the People’s Court of Savannakhet Province under Article 82 of the Lao Penal Code which prohibits the treatment of patients without an official licence for the purpose of generating gains and had been sentenced to nine months in prison and fined.
The accused have maintained they did not give Mrs Chansee any drugs or material remedy but only prayed for her in accordance with her request for healing.
While the village chief initially granted permission for Pastor Kaithong – one of the five accused – to conduct a funeral for Mrs Chansee, he later ordered proceedings to stop and after the pastor appealed the decision to the district chief of Atsaphangthong, he and the other four were arrested and accused of giving Mrs Chansee medication which caused her death. They were cleared of this charge in August last year.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which has been monitoring the case, have urged the court to "urgently review" the case and have called for Lao authorities to release the five Christians and investigate the actions of the village chief and police in the case.
– DAVID ADAMS
