Church of Scientology to face French trial over ”organised fraud”
September 9th, 2008 - 2:41 pm ICT by ANI
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London, Sept 9 (ANI): The Church of Scientology in France is embroiled in a legal row over an alleged organised fraud.
The religious body will be tried along with seven of its leaders.
A woman has complained against the church that the scientologists had allegedly brought about her financial ruin by pressurising her into paying thousands of pounds for lessons, books, drugs and a device called an “electrometre” which the church says can measure a person’’s mental state. Boasting Tom Cruise and John Travolta as its members, the church, will be charged for claims including illegally prescribing drugs.
And if found guilty, the controversial body’’s main centre, in France, the ASES-Celebrity Centre, along with its bookshop, may come to a close.
It has taken 10 years for the case to come to the court, and no trial date been set as yet.
France’’s professional pharmaceutical association and another plaintiff have also filed for charges.
While people belonging to scientology have been at the centre of legal proceedings, it is for the first time that the church has been dragged to court. The seven members on trial, including Alain Rosenberg, the manager of the ASES-Celebrity Centre, face a maximum seven year jail term if convicted.
The woman has complained that she was allegedly approached by Scientologists in a Paris street in 1998, where she was first offered a personality test, and then invited to hear the results.
This made the judge to order that the church had used “personality tests void of scientific value…with the sole aim of selling services or divers products.”
Later, the 33-year old lady was allegedly gradually persuaded to dish out around 25,000 pounds on books, communication and “life healing” lessons, as well as “purification packs”, reports the Telegraph.
While claiming to “identify and resolve supposed psychological difficulties or favour personal development, the Scientologists” sole aim was to claim their fortune by exercising a psychological hold over her,” the Judge said.
Earlier, in 2006, the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence and now with the announcement of the trial to be conducted after almost 10 years, the plaintiffs described the judge’’s decision as “courageous”.
However, the Church of Scientology denounced the ruling, saying it was being “stigmatised” by the courts.
“The special treatment reserved for the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center raises questions about the equality of the justice system and the presumption of innocence,” it said in a statement. (ANI)
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- National
Posted in National, |
September 17th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
8 September 2008
STATEMENT OF THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY
In April 2007, in the case entitled Church of Scientology Moscow v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the rights of all Scientologists to practice their religion free from government interference or harassment. This ruling applies to all 47 Member States of the Council of Europe, including France.
In this landmark case, the European Court of Human Rights made it clear that, while religious freedom is a matter of individual conscience, it also protects and includes freedom to manifest their religion through worship, teaching, practice and observance in community with others. These standards include respect for freedom of religion and belief and the rights of members of any faith to assemble to practice freely their religion.
Unfortunately, France has fallen short of these religious freedom standards. Instead, French authorities have continued their campaign against religious freedom for all. Their improper leaking of judicial information to the press is the latest example. This constitutes a violation of the Church’s right to the presumption of innocence and violates the strict rules mandating secrecy of instruction. Due to the utter lack of substance behind this 10-year “investigation”, the government is reduced to raising its hollow charges through the press rather than through the Rule of Law in court. We are confident that these actions will never withstand scrutiny in an objective court of law.
The unlawful leaking of information is nothing less than harassment as well as a violation of the right to due process and a fair trial guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Church of Scientology has been recognized by dozens of courts and administrative agencies all over the world.
The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954. Today there are nearly 8,000 Scientology churches, missions and groups in more than 160 countries. The Church is enjoying an unprecedented expansion as it engages in an international program to acquire new places of worship and community outreach centers for its Churches in major cities around the world, such as Madrid, London, Berlin and Copenhagen.
These actions by French authorities will not deter its expansion.
oOo
September 26th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Long before France pressed these latest fraud charges against Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard was convicted of fraud in that country, and sentenced to 4 years in prison.
http://www.nolanchart.com/article4776.html
By now, most people have learned that the nation of France has decided to prosecute Scientology’s French organization, along with seven of its top managers, on fraud and drugs charges. News articles about the case usually mention that Scientology was aquitted of fraud charges there in 2002; sometimes they mention that Scientology officials were convicted of fraud in Lyon in 1997 and in Marseille in 1999. Surprisingly, however, the fraud conviction of the cult’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, on fraud charges in 1978, does not seem to be mentioned in any of the English-language reports.
Hubbard convicted, Times of London
After a seven-year public inquiry and a lengthy trial, the Paris Tribunal found four top Scientologists, including Hubbard, guilty of making fraudulent claims that physical cures and professional success could be achieved through Scientology. Hubbard, who did not attend the trial, and had already fled the country, was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
The judge concluded that the facts and statements by the witnesses were “ample proof” of the veracity of the charge.
Quoting Hubbard’s own words, the judge found that Scientology made false promises with the sole aim of “increasing the financial revenue.”
An article from the Catholic Sentinel reports that “the court examined evidence of large profits made by an organization which declares itself to be non-profit, the psycho-therapeutic nature of a treatment dispensed by people with no medical qualifications, and the claim made by Scientology to be capable of curing some 70 percent of human illnesses,”1 such as radioactive burn from the effects of an atomic bomb, etc.
Hubbard convicted, LA Times
Hubbard never served his prison sentence because he was essentially on the run from the law, sailing in the Caribbean on his yacht Apollo, trying to avoid not only French authorities but the US authorities as well. In 1978, the US Federal Government was preparing for the trial of Hubbard’s wife Mary Sue, and numerous other Scientology officials, on conspiracy and burglary charges. Hubbard, along with Scientology super-lawyer Kendrick Moxon, were named as “unindicted co-conspirators” in that case.2 This means the federal prosecutors were very sure they were involved, but couldn’t quite generate the evidence for a sure conviction. Mary Sue and the others ended up serving several years in federal prison. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service had evidence that Hubbard was taking millions of dollars “off the top” of Scientology profits, and hiding it in overseas banks.3
Hubbard never returned to France, and was banned from the United Kingdom because he would not discuss his conviction with British authorities. Hubbard died in 1986 on his secluded California ranch.