======== From: jensting@imaginet.fr (Jens Tingleff) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: LYON TRIAL French press report 30/9 [Xenu] Date: Mon, 30 Sep 1996 22:38:53 +0100 -------- [Summary/piecemeal translation of article of the day in connection with the tril in Lyon of 23 clams. From Liberation, liberal/leftish French daily French original in single quotes. Comments/unclear points in square brackets. Apologies for my French, gotta get a dictionary one of these days...] La Scientologie devant les juges 'Scientologists before the judges' Bernard Fromentin Liberation 30/9 -96, page 16 Copyright 1996 Liberation [Picture from demo of 200 clams in Lyon on 23 july 1990. Frantic female clam holding sign declaring '.. - the spiritual response to the spage-age'] ================================================================== "The church of scientology is gambling its future in France on the trial in Lyon" states Daniele Gounord, national spokesperson who appears in support of 23 scientologists accused. The president of Scientology in Lyon, Jean-Jacques Mazier is to be tried for 'd'atteinte involontaire de la vie' [manslaughter, probably] after the suicide of a one of his newly adherents ['adeptes']. According to the results of the five-year investigation by judge Fenech, the accused are tried for fraud, attempted and accomplish to and breach of confidence. "The sect exploits prosaicaly for profit the good faith and credulity of its victims by pseudo-sceintific and para-medical means to the detriment of their financial interests ['interets patrimoniaux'] exposing them to certain medical-psychological risks" concludes the investigation ['requisitoire de renvoi']. 60 witnesses from France, Luxembourg and Denmark, examination of 15 bankaccounts in France and abroad will permit a dissection of the financial methods of the organisation. The trial would not have taken place without the insistence ['volontee'] of Nelly Vic who witnessed the suicide of her husband Patrice on 24th of March 1988. At the time, their children were three and eight years old. [Discussion of Patrice Vic's involvement - same as in article from L'Express posted earlier.] On the 28th of March, accompagnied by Jean-Jacques Mazier, he informed his wife that he'd decided to borrow 30000 FFR for the second stage of his induction into Scientology, a 'purification cure.' Six hours later, he entered his childrens' bedroom, opened the window and leapt to his death. The day after, Nelly Vic filed charges.The responsible of the church of Scientology answer also to charges of another current practice: charging of endebted adherents ['l'embauche d'adeptes surendettes'] and turning the money over to a bankaccount in Copenhagen. In this domain, establishment of the fact will permit a qualification of the "methods" where the real goal seems to "exclusively a commercial benefit" underlines the prosecution. The leaders of the sect understands full well that this approach to their activities could contribute to a demystification of an activity which they claim to be "religious" and "humanist." In Lyon, a pape printed in 100000 copies indicates their defence strategy:the sect wishes to present themselves as a "minority religion," victim of attempted persecution by the French state. ================================================================== Comments: This article leaves the reader in no doubt of the sympathies of the journalist ;-) Liberation is always like that ... The story of Patrice Vic is certainly very sad: his whole life became introverted, he dumped friends, job and family ties and finally leapt to his death on failure to find money for a purif rundown. There is no discussion of the *failure* of Patrice Vic to find the money for the purif rundown. In the AP article quoted on a.r.s. earlier, it was stated that he failed to borrow the money from his wife - nothing is said about that in this article. The very strong emphasis in the investigation on the money angle ought to be hugely effective in the trial. On the other hand, the idea of a "minority religion" which is being persecuted by the state may be a good defence - the government/justice system has been cracking down on minorities quite heavily. The French state is *very* secular (the president did not go to the mass held by the Pope during the recent visit) but the justice department has muddled the issues a little; head scarves for girls - desired by islamic parents - have been made illegal, opening the state to accusations of discrimination. Until more news (tomorrow, I fear ;-( ) Jens ======== From: jensting@imaginet.fr (Jens Tingleff) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: LYON TRIAL French press report 1/10 [Xenu] Date: Tue, 01 Oct 1996 15:04:12 +0100 -------- [Summary/piecemeal translation of article of the day in connection with the trial in Lyon of 23 clams. From Liberation, liberal/leftish French daily French original in single quotes. Comments/unclear points in square brackets. Apologies for my French, gotta get a dictionary one of these days...] La Scientologie se defend au tribunal 'Scientology defends itself in court' Bernard Fromentin Liberation 1/10 -96, page 13 Copyright 1996 Liberation [picture from inside Lyon org. Man reading e-meter, woman staring into space. In the caption, e-meter is written "electrometer" (qoutes included ;-) ) ] ======================================================================= The constant smile of Jean-Jacques Mazier, giving testimony about the suicide of an adherent of the church of scientology marked the first day of the trial in Lyon where 23 scientologists are tried. The 53 years old man is in every way the expected image of a high-ranking official of the sect. In the stand, the former leader of the Lyon org comes across as a softspoken man who frequenctly interrupts his speach with hand/arm movements. "I'm a church man" he says. Like all senior staff of this organsition which was classified in a parlamentary report as a sect, he came to scientology by "reading a book written by Lafayette Ron Hubbard presenting Dianetics." That was in 1984. He "wanted to know more", passed "personality tests" and passed on to supervised auditing sessions. He professes to "having been surprised" by the comments of scientologists who proceeded to "help him discover his various previous lives." These "revelations" permitted him to "be aware of his spiritual lives." He passed successfuly the various suggested courses and was named head of the first scientology mission in Lyon. He worked another two years to attein the state of "clear." He explained to the judge what was meant by this. After his selfportrait, he was less eloquent. To questions about the last hours of Patrice Vic, a new adherent who had committed suicide at a crucial stage of his "progression," he answered evasively. He "doesn't remember having audited this new adherent" and doesn't remember to have adviced Patrice Vic to take a loan to progress to the "purification cure." He concedes to "have presented aspects ['tout l'interets'] of the purification procedure." For the rest, the president of the church of scientology [unclear whether this indicates Mazier - could well be; "president" is a general term indicating he's a chief..] called on Ghislaine Huet, a scientology colleague who "knew Mr Vic". She remembers only that he had refused to enter his course with the pretext that "he had drunk alcohol that day." These two testimonies were contradicted by Nelly Vic, the wife of Patrice. In the stand, she told in the same words she had used six years earlier [refers to comments from yesterday's article which mentions an article in 'Liberation Lyon' from 1990] about the last desperate hours of her husband who had screamed ['lachee'] "don't hold me back, it's the only solution" before defenestrating himself in 1988. These testimonies have confirmed the will of the scientologists to present themselves as men and women with "a mission to accomplish" and not crooks. Earlier, the defense layqers, Olivier Metzner and Yves Leborgne, had attempted to reopen the investigation, trying to demonstrate that "it had been long, but incomplete." The response of Thierry Richard ['procureur adjoint'] was brief but to the point. He denounced in his filing of conclusions "a last attempt to block ['repousser'] the trial." At the end of the day, the court presided over by Patrick Lifscutz had "presented the incident in detail ['joint l'incident au fond']" which will permit the case to enter the core of the matter. ======================================================================= Une "eglise" aux lois mercantile fondee par un PDG-gourou 'A "church" with mercatile laws founded by a director-guru' Francois Devinat Liberation 1/10 -96, page 13 Copyright 1996 Liberation [Profile of co$] ======================================================================= "If you want to make money, found a religion!" These words, preached by the "pope" of scientology, Lafayette Ron Hubbard, have the merrit of honesty. The belief of scientology is that all religious work should be paid. In its way, the history of the "church" of scientology which claims to work "for a world without madness, without crime and without war," is a formidable success story ['success story'] which turned the creation of a science fiction author into a fearsome ['redoutable'] well of cult money. [Bio of LRH, not very flattering ;-) Story of 'Dianetics' and the change into a "church" of scientology in order to hide from the attention of the US medical and tax authorities. This did not keep LRH and his staff from hacing to hide out in international waters on a fleet of ships - thereby also avoiding the interests of Interpol and the FBI. The paranoid and schizoprenic - according to his own son Ron de Wolf - Hubbard died on the 24th of Jan 1986 of a stroke, sitting on a mountain of 100s of millions of dollars.] [Description of the "doctrine" of the co$. Describes only the previous-lives shtick and going "clear" - this journalist needs to know about the Marcabs and the thetans ;-).] [Description of the organisation. Extremely hierachical, lead by a clique which lives in Los Angeles. The Hubbardian empire is ruled by telexes which describe good and bad points as functions of profit. Scientology also has considerable influence in spheres of education, arts, human rights defense, the fight against drugs and in management technology. The organisation also expertly discredits its enemies with campaigns of intimidation and defamation "black PR"] Adherents. They are between six and seven millions in the world, several thousands in France. They are recruited mainly from the middle classes, comfortably off, from which the "church" can count on media recruits of choice: John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Julia Migenes-Johnson [your guess is as good as mine ;-)].... The "clients" fo scientology are seduced by a doctrine, popular these days, which subtlely mixes spiritual techniquesand psycotherapy. ======================================================================= Comments: Not much meat on the first day of the trial... The bio of the co$ was clearly written as a "don't try this at home" information piece. Later Jens ========= From: jensting@imaginet.fr (Jens Tingleff) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: LYON TRIAL French Press report 3/10 Date: Fri, 04 Oct 1996 10:58:08 +0100 -------- [Summary/piecemeal translation of article of the day in connection with the trial in Lyon of 23 clams. From Liberation, liberal/leftish French daily French original in single quotes. Comments/unclear points in square brackets. Apologies for my French, gotta get a dictionary one of these days... For 'sect' you may want to read 'cult'. Copyrights stated as being Liberation, by default (i.e. there are n explicit copyright notices with the articles] Three artiles today. One full page and a fron-page teaser (yeah!) La Scientologie a coutee 1 million a Marie-Therese 'Scintology cost Marie-Theres 1 million' Bernard Fromentien Liberation, 3/10 -96, page 16 Copyright 1996 Liberation ======================================================================= It's written on the badge that the scientologists wear, the're "happy." Tuesday, 23 adherents (the accused, we assume..) told the court how happy they were. [..] Yesterday, former adherents, the civil parties in the case, told of the difficulties involved in leaving, and the dangers ['etre perilleux d'essayer d'en sortir']. Marie-Therese Mallard was grave at the stand. Today retired, she had been looking for work for a few years. She replied to an ad to become "professional auditor." After a personality test which indicated that she was "unstable", she continued - out of intellectual curiosity - with comms courses and professional training. "The harassement was constant," she said. "They had understood that I was weakened by my desire to find work[..]" After a few months of auditing, she was told that she was ready for a purification cure. She advanced 11500 FFR for this. In january -91, her account at scientology was at 42500 FFR. They made her go to the european headquarters in Copenhagen. While there, she learned that her father was dying. They refused to let her go back to him. "They started to look on me as non-conformant." She was then sent to "Flag" in Los Angeles. The costs here were 60000 FFR. The heritage from her father permitted her to pay this. In total, scientology cost her 1 million francs. In spite of the harassements, she decided to split from scientology on her return to France, "to tell the world about the sect behind the front of scientology." A conclusion confirmed yesterday by father ['le pere' - don't know] Louis-Michel Brolles who during 11 years invested 500000 FFR before renouncing [the church]. He left feeling "used". Like Mohamed Onis, who would "enter into a state of questioning ['entrer dans un etat de demande' ??] in order to be appreciated and recognised." He finished by having to chose "between his parents and the sect." After these testimonies, the case wil pursue testminoies from experts, like Jean-Marie Abgrall, psycatrist, on the sect phenomenen. And it will finally leave the "neolangauge" of scientology and enter into examination of facts. ======================================================================= Pendant les debats, la propaganda continue 'During the debates, the propaganda continues' Daniel Licht Liberation 3/10 -96, page 16 Copyright 1996 Liberation ======================================================================= The scientologists in Lyoin speak with only one voice, that of Marc Bromberg, highly placed responsible of the sect in Paris. [discussion of howtrhe clams find the media attention excessive, the trial is a witch-hunt, etc etc etc. In all religions there are "apostates" and so on and so forth.] The Sept 30 issue of 'Ethique et Liberte' [Freedom, we presume], they smear an expert witness in the case. They liken the testimony of Jean-Marie Abgrall with having Hitler testify on the nature of jews. Declaring themselves the victims of a new type of inquisition, they don't have a taste for martyrdom. "We'll not let them do that." The senior staff claims that the case has been good PR for them. They've had several curious visitors to teh Dianetics centre in Lyon. [Discussion of the Lyon org. One member organised weekly karaoke nights in a nearby cafe. The owner of the cafe didn't know about the scientology affiliation of the organiser before the trial publicity, but declared himself satisfied with the nights.] Numerous leaflets warning about the dangers of psychology has been ahnded out outside the entrance to a mental hospital. Marc Bromberg also explains the dead-agenting ['propaganda noire']. "When we learn that someone who sets themselves up as models of virtue have acted in a condemnable manner, we say, it's a good war." A few months ago, docteur Abgrall, their 'bete noire' [black beast] was trapped by a false television crew sent by scientology. ======================================================================= Un gros business 'A big business' Liberation 3/10 -96, page 16 Copyright 1996 Liberation ======================================================================= oScientology claims 6 to 7 millions members, thereof 40000 in France. [discussion f church history, of change from dianetics to church of scientology , or orgnisation structure. The old Paris org was liquidated after owing 48 millions FFR to various authorities.] In spite of all its legal troubles, the church remains a peerless business with an estimated turnover of 150 million dollars. ======================================================================= Comments; A bit low on details, AGAIN. Steadily increasing exposure in the paper, though. I'll be glad to hear a from the expert (perhaps on the dead-agenting and fair gaming of the expert witness...). Later Jens ======== From: jensting@imaginet.fr (Jens Tingleff) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: LYON TRIAL French press report 4/10 [Xenu] Date: Sat, 05 Oct 1996 14:18:50 +0100 -------- [Summary/piecemeal translation of article of the day in connection with the trial in Lyon of 23 clams. From Liberation, liberal/leftish French daily French original in single quotes. Comments/unclear points in square brackets. Apologies for my French, gotta get a dictionary one of these days... For 'sect' you may want to read 'cult'. Copyrights stated as being Liberation, by default (i.e. there are n explicit copyright notices with the articles] Three articles today. One full page. "Choisir entre sa famille et la scientologie" '"Chose between their family and scientology"' Bernard Fromentien Liberation, 4/10 -96, page 16 Copyright 1996 Liberation ======================================================================= On the fourth day of the trial of the church of scientology in Lyon, experts and testimonies by the civil parties in the case attempted to clarify the methods, the finances and the objectives of the church of scientology. Psychiatric expert Jean-Marie Abgrall has attentively read the texts of the founders of the organisation. His speech was also supported by the reading of 107 individual files retrieved from the org in Lyon. He states that the primary strength of the sect resides in the capacity to impose postulates. The method, borrowed from marketing, attempts to repair rapidly the unease of the individual, to bestow guilt on him through a series of harassements and blackmail. Thusly, states Jean-Marie Abrall, the young adherent Patrice Vic who was preparing himself for a purification cure, found himself "faced with an impossible choice: his family or scientology." His suicide, according to Dr Bgrall, was inevitable ['ineluctable' ?]. He attributes the problems of kidney, hepatitis and brain of the adherent to a taking of vitamins in high doses. "The disciple poisons himself with his own waste products, his liver and kidney stop working," in the opinion of the expert. According to him, the result is a phenomenen of non-corporality ['phenomene de decorporation']. According to testimonies he has studied, "the adherent sees himself sometimes in the form of a snail. He talks to plants. He is told that he should go back in time, to 108 millions years BC. He finds himself as an Egyptian mummy or as a sage in Tibet." More prosaically, the investigations into companies to find the financial paths of the organisation have attempted to discover how money is moved in it. Mohammed Ounis, former adherent, entered in 1989 in the function of treasurer in the origanisation, armed with a business degree in accounting ['BTS de comptabilite']. "Beware, it is not at all the same kind of accounting as the one I was taought in school," he warned. Commisioner Etienne Mozul, member of the financial brigade ['brigade financiere'], expanded on the findings of an investigation based on 458 hearings ['proces verbaux']. He values at 15.9 millions FFR the sums which were moved during 1988 and 1988 between France and Copenhagen, partly cheques or money orders financing the training ['prestations de formation'] of the mother organisation. The collection of 5 to 15% from the orgs to the "centre" was steered to the US. The responsibles encountered "were silent ['tombent de nues'], gave answers which were fluffy ['floues'] or incoherent to the first precise question" commisioner Mozul concludes. He reveals that he was limited in his investigation by lack of disclosure ['find de non-recevoir'] by various nack establishments i France, the US or the UK. It is , in contrast, "respect for laws" which animates the Association for defense of the family and the Individual ['Association de defense de la famille et de l'indivu' - ADFI]. Often cited in the trial by the adherents which they have helped in their dissidence, ADFI wishes first of all to fight against sects "with information" states the president opf the Lyon branch, Yvette Genosy. 68 years of age, she has fought for 32 years "to inform ['faire savoir'] that scientology is neither a psychotherapi method nor a religion." Also called to the stand, Serge Faubert journalist from "L'Evenement de Jeudi" author of "Une secte au coeur de la Repuplique" ["A cult in the hear of the Republic"] works to demonstrate that "the running ['gestition'] of the church of scientology is controled from the United States by its hard core, OSA, or office of special affairs." According to him "the rest is just window-dressing ['une vitrine']." Today, witnesses called by the defense will attempt to explain otherwise. ======================================================================= 'Un homme eglise, chasseur de sectes' A man of the church, cult-chaser Francois Devinat Liberation, 4/10 -96, page 16 Copyright 1996 Liberation [picture of father Trouslard] ======================================================================= The man isn't born who could put father Trouslard at unease with his conscience because he fights sects from the cover of the catholic church. After an ironic statement that the catholic church was a "a sect which had made it," the priest who will appear as a witness in the trial of scientologists in Lyon jokes "the first christians never formed a sect in the perjatory sense of today. They were thrown to the lions first." [Long discussion of the ongoing battle of father Trouslard. Since he started going after all parareligious movements, he has collected death-threats. He wa sordained priest in 1948 at the age of 24 years. After working against poverty, he gained an interest in sect movements in 1982. A group of christian scholars around Laon lived a collective delusion under the cover of a paranoid curate. He visited 250 families, collected 70 kg of documentaion.] This first involvement allowed father Trouslard to esstablish a three stage strategy 1) collect evidence 2) push the "guru" of the sect by filing legal complaints denouncing his practices 3) confront vividly the lies in a public process. [Discussion of his struggle against 'Invitation a la Vie' - IVI [Invitation to Life]; against Abby Georges de Nantes who predicted his "execution"] Father Trouslard counters the accusation that his struggle aginst believers isn't christian with the statement "Who hurts man, hurts God." He is untouchable in the catholic hierachy due to his network of friends and the shield of his media attention ['boucle de sa mediatisation']. This freedom has permitted him to draw attention to certain practices of Opus Dei, a "holy mafia" supported by pope John-Paul II. "Sects take on a religious mask. Their strategy towards a recruit can be summed up in three words: seduction, destruction and reconstruction. I'm simply fighting to free the captives of an intellectual, moral and financial fraud." Tough fight against the dragon of false messiahs by a Saint George armed with a telephone in a crumbling office the size of a chambermaid's? This tranquil obstinate believes never to confuse "apostat" with crusading against "heretics." ======================================================================= 'Excommunie par un ministre' Excommunicated by a minister F.Dt Liberation, 4/10 -96, page 16 Copyright 1996 Liberation ======================================================================= [Discussion of the case of a movement 'L'Office culturel de Cluny' - OCC [The Cluny Cultural Office] a catholic group which is being denounced by Guy Drut, minister of youth and sport. OCC was formed in 1963 in the Cafe Cluny (that's one of the locals in my neighbourhood!). Although classified as a sect in the parliamentary report of earlier this year, the movement has support from a number of catholic bishops and disapproval of others. According to father Trouslard, the movement have sectarian characteristics in the psychological destruction of its members who live a mystic delerium.] ======================================================================= Comments: nice flowery prose in the piece about father Trouslard ;-) The testimonies of by Dr Abgrall focus on the destructive effect, mentally and physically, of the purif rundown. Cobined with the exorbitant prices charged for this treatment, this should catch the attention of the cort... Later Jens