Church of Scientology convicted of fraud
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Independent Minds
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
French socialist MP Catherine Picard at the Paris court for the trial of the Church of Scientology
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A Paris court convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud and fined it more than €600,000 ($900,000) today but stopped short of banning the group as prosecutors had demanded.
The group's French branch immediately announced it would appeal against the verdict.
The court convicted the Church of Scientology's French office, its library and six of its leaders of organised fraud. Investigators said the group pressured members into paying large sums of money for questionable financial gain and used "commercial harassment" against recruits.
The group was fined €400,000 ($600,000) and the library €200,000. Four of the leaders were given suspended sentences of between 10 months and two years. The other two were given fines of €1,000 and €2,000.
However, the court did not order the Church of Scientology to shut down, ruling that it would be likely to continue its activities anyway "outside any legal framework."
Prosecutors had urged that the group be dissolved in France and fined €2 million ($3 million).
The verdict is "an Inquisition of modern times," said Scientology spokeswoman Agnes Bron, referring to efforts to rout out heretics of the Roman Catholic Church in centuries past.
The head of an association that helps victims of sects, Catherine Picard, called the verdict "intelligent."
"Scientology can no longer hide behind freedom of conscience," she said.
The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, founded in 1954 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has been active for decades in Europe, but has struggled to gain status as a religion. It is considered a sect in France and has faced prosecution and difficulties in registering its activities in many countries.
Defence lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve said during the trial that neither the Church of Scientology nor the six leaders on trial had gained financially from the group's practices.
The original complaint in the case dates back more than a decade, when a young woman said she took out loans and spent the equivalent of €21,000 on books, courses and "purification packages" after being recruited in 1998. When she sought reimbursement and to leave the group, its leadership refused. She was among three eventual plaintiffs.
Olivier Morice, lawyer for civil parties in the case, said the verdict was "historic" because it was the first time in France that the Church of Scientology has been convicted of organised fraud.
Investigating judge Jean-Christophe Hullin spent years examining the group's activities, and in his indictment criticised what he called the Scientologists' "obsession" with financial gain and practices he said were aimed at plunging members into a "state of subjection."
The Church of Scientology teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems. It claims 10 million members around the world, including celebrity devotees Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
Belgium, Germany and other European countries have been criticised by the US State Department for labeling Scientology as a cult or sect and enacting laws to restrict its operations.
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Comments
I wonder why the US State Department are so supportive of a particular religion. I thought that the USA had clear separation of the state and religion.
Perhaps there are Scientologists in high places in the US State Department? Perhaps key US State Department officials attend Scientolgy organised conferences in the Bahamas? Who knows......
most rational people look for proof of propositions in their own experience; some people " believe" so-called scientists while actually"knowing " nothing at all about science and without having any capacity for logical mentation, which would seem to call for an education and a critical mind
It's a cult. Culty culty cult. They're welcome to sue me if they like, at which point I'll bring up as evidence all the practices and beliefs which mean it fails the various cult evaluators:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_check
Their "disconnection" policy is a classic, for starters.
Here's the only page you need on Scientology (exposing and debunking it thoroughly): http://www.xenu.net/
me I mindmy own business
Ironically, most New Religious Movements such as modern Druidry or Wicca don't hit a single one of these. Catholicism fails all of it.
I never ever met a scientologist; it's none of my business what other people believe
I know nothing about paedophillia from my own actual experience and hear a lot of hearsay/gossip/tittle-tattle. Is it therefore none of my business? I know nothing about climate change from my own actual experience and hear a lot of hearsay/gossip/tittle-tattle. Is it therefore none of my business? I know nothing about sex slavery from my own actual experience and hear a lot of hearsay/gossip/tittle-tattle. Is it therefore none of my business?
What you describe as hearsay/gossip/tittle-tattle, if you research it, turns out to be criminal convictions, coroners reports, legal affidavits, and, if many ruined lives and deaths (or are they hearsay/gossip/tittle-tattle too?).
Equally I am not a climatologist, nor as scientist but it does seem to me that global warming is a belief and one to which many do not subscribe; i'm agnostic about it- since there is absolutely nothing that I can do about climate change , if any, it is still not my business , any more than the billion , billion things about which I can do absolutely and completely nothing; we live in a mechanistic world and what will happen will happen according to the laws of the mechanics which govern our level; I live in a world of sleeping machines of whom I am one; it's not fun, but is how it is, regardless of what I think, say, or do
Similarly, Scientology is associated with certain beliefs (e.g. about the effects of contact with "Suppressive Persons" - "SPs", i.e. critics - accurate details are on Wikipedia), attitudes (e.g. "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed" - an official Scientology policy previously called "Fair Game" - again see Wikipedia), and behavioural intentions and actions (to deprive of property, injure, trick, sue, lie to or destroy). All of these have happened.
So if I am a critic of Scientology, it IS my business what other people believe (but more to the point, how they act on those beliefs). I hope that explains the context.
Then you have the nonsense that if people are allowed to find out about all the information about Xenu before they are ready to hear it (ie paid hundreds of thousands of dollars/pounds to get to that stage) then they will get pneumonia and die. It would be hysterically funny if it wasn't so tragic.
I would write more but i am running late for my meeting with Xenu on the planet axargon. I better not be late or he may throw me in a volcano and detonate nuclear bombs.
Many people I knew lost everything to these con artists: cars, homes, businesses, life savings, families, and more. It cost us thousands of dollars, our home and business as well. This story and the linked one about Martin Haggis just scratch the surface of the evil this organization does.
Because I refused to buy into their lies any longer, they labeled me a "suppressive person." This means that no Scientologist can associate with me on pain of their immortal soul. I assure you, that is quite all right with me! However, it meant that my then husband could no longer associate with the mother of his child. He was also prohibited from speaking to his parents, who had sided with me in the affair. He quickly rebelled as well, and later admitted that Scientology had only treated him well as long as he was bringing in money. They turned on him when that dried up. His family, however, continued to support him after he left. He said that showed him who his true friends were, despite their lies.
The French prosecutors are right. Scientology should be banned before they can harm more people and scam them out of their money.
Remember, Christianity was a weird cult, as was Islam. Once a scam grows beyond a certain scale, it becomes a "respectable" religion.
All religions peddle salvation. And all are guilty of fraud.
So, this judgment is hypocritical, at best.
Don't get me wrong, the Catholic Church has much about it that needs criticism. Ditto all branches of christianity and Islam and most other world religions. I think its rather silly to compare Scientology with any religion because it isn't one. Its a business.
The Bible asks for 10%, although in most developed countries, in today's heathen times, the faithful seem to give just under 3% of their income for "salvation." But in poorer countries, the percentage is considerably higher.
New religions are often more aggressive, because they need to grow and expand to survive in the faith marketplace.
I am not defending the scientologists, and I do believe that their methods are at least questionable.
But then, we have had fatwas and suicide bombings from Islam, Family Planning clinics attacks by Christians, and nutty settlers in (and outside) of Israel. And let's not forget what the Catholic Church did to John Hus, for the mere possession of a non-Latin Bible....
The laws of Copyright are time limited. The New Testament entered the public domain over 1600 years ago. In 2061 L Ron's copyright will expire.
It is interesting that two of the greatest frauds in the US were L Ron and Elron.
And it's "Enron", not "Elron", so your observation, amusing as it is, is wasted.
under the Human rights laws people have a human right to practice a religion. When Russia tried to ban Scientology they took them to the ECHR and won on these grounds.
The fact is, for as long as Scientology is recognised as a religion, the French cannot ban them.
I only hope they see sense soon and remove them from this kind of legal protection so we can ban this evil cult from not only France but the UK, Belgium, and the rest of Europe. If the Americans dont want to ban them thats their problem, we dont need Scientology ripping people off over here.
Just curious, what is your definition of religion? How exactly is believing in Xenu any different, than believing in the Holy Trinity?
but I dont like all the other religions either. I dont mind watching them all go.
There's one born every minute... but also many vulnerable people who get hoiked in with promises to improve their lives. If Scientology can't be banned, then some public information advertising might be useful. "Charley says - these people will offer you some dime-store pseudo-psychology, then brainwash you, take your money, alienate you from your family, and then fob with off with some crap about a space alien. Be forewarned!"