Greek court shuts down Athens Scientologists                                   Page 1

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Greek court shuts down Athens Scientologists

RT 23 Jan 1997

    By Dina Kyriakidou
     ATHENS, Jan 23 (Reuter) - A Greek judge has banned Athens
Scientologists, saying the group obtained a licence to operate under
false pretences, according to court documents.
     "The court orders the dissolution of the group based in Athens
and orders it to pay all legal fees," said a 23-page court ruling
obtained by Reuters on Thursday.
     It was the first Greek court ruling against Scientologists. The
Greek Orthodox church and parents of youths who became members of the
group have tried unsuccessfully to bring them to trial in the past
year.
     The ban comes after a group of celebrities protested to
Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an open letter over what they said was
discrimination against Scientologists in Germany.
     The Athens court decision said the Greek Centre of Applied
Philosophy (KEFE), a Scientology group, had obtained a licence as a
non-profit, public interest organisation.
     Instead, one of its prime targets was to make money by charging
newcomers for courses and making its members work free, said the
ruling. The group also put people's mental and physical health at risk
by using amateur psychology methods, the court said.
     "The organisation's operation has proved that its goals are
irrelevant to those initially stated," Judge Contantia Angelaki said
in her report.
     She registered her decision in judicial logs on January 17 after
a trial on charges brought against KEFE by the Athens prefect, whose
office is responsible for issuing operating licences to various
groups.
     Scientology, founded in 1954 by U.S. writer L. Ron Hubbard,
cannot be recognised as a religion in Greece, where the powerful
Orthodox church allows only other major faiths.
     Testimony by the Greek Church and the Greek Parents Association
were taken into account, as well as doctors' opinions and personal
experiences recounted by former KEFE members, the ruling said.
     The decision, which can be appealed, was not publicised but is
available to the public on request. KEFE's lawyer was not available
for comment.
     In Germany, 34 entertainment industry figures including Hollywood
star Goldie Hawn, film director Oliver Stone and writer Mario Puzo
called on Kohl to bring "an end to this shameful pattern of organised
persecution" of Scientologists.
     Printed as a full-page advertisement in the Paris-based
International Herald Tribune, their open letter compared German
treatment of Scientologists with the Nazis' treatment of Jews in the
1930s.
     They said they were concerned that Germany had organised boycotts
of entertainers such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Chick Corea
because of their religious beliefs.
     Kohl dismissed the letter as "rubbish."