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Church of Scientology found guilty of fraud in France!!!
Judge cites ‘obsession’ with financial gain as group is fined $600,000
Raymond Gellner- Examiner.com Tues., Oct . 27, 2009
Paris, France – On Tuesday a French court convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud and ordered it to pay fines in the amount of 600,000 euros (approximately $900,000). Prosecutors had wanted the group banned from operating in France, but due to a legal loophole the group escaped this ruling. Although, there is a ruling now in place that if the group is again convicted of fraud, it could be banned from the country.
If France was to ban Scientology, it would not be alone. Greece has banned it since 1997, and Germany is considering a ban on it. Individuals within the organization had previously been convicted of fraud. However, this marks the first time that the group itself has been thus convicted. In addition to Scientology’s French Office and its library, six leaders were also found guilty by the three-judge panel. According to CNN, one of the judges stated that if Scientology wishes to continue its activity, it must be “on the correct side of the law.”
The organization is expected to appeal the ruling.
Two of the plaintiffs in the case were women who were recruited into the group, then forced into spending tens of thousands of euros on products from the group. A third plaintiff was a woman who was fired by her Scientologist boss after she refused to undergo the Scientology tests and join the courses. Followers of the organization contend that this court ruling amounts to religious persecution. Eric Roux, a spokesman for the group stated, “It’s run like an Inquisition, [as] if some people did not wake up from the Inquisition time.”
The Church of Scientology was founded in December of 1953 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. This is not the first time that the organization has had legal problems. In 1979 in the criminal case of United States vs. Mary Sue Hubbard et al. several members of the group including Hubbard’s wife were convicted of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property.
In France as in several other European countries, Scientology is not seen as a religion, but rather as a sect. According to Emma Jane Kirby of the BBC, France sees Scientology as “a purely commercial operation designed to make as much money as it can at the expense of often vulnerable victims.” In the United States Scientology is allowed registry as a religion which gives it all of the tax privileges therein.