France: Scientologists guilty of fraud

June 15, 10:18 PMPortland Humanist ExaminerMicha J. Stone

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A court in France has found five members of the Church of Scientology guilty of fraud. The former leader of the church in southern France, Xavier Delamare, was sentenced to two years in jail, including 18 months suspended, and fined 16,000 dollars for manipulating people into giving money to the church.

Four more people were given suspended prison sentences ranging from six months to a year, and another two were found not guilty. The charges against the seven defendants - who are alleged to have obtained large sums of money from fellow sect-members by fraudulent means - date back to the late 1980s.

They went on trial last September accused of accepting money for dubious treatments organised for church members. Some of these included 'purification' sessions and vitamin cures sold at excessive prices, according to the prosecution. The case grew out of complaints by former scientologists.

Charges of violence and illegally practising medicine have been dropped. Prosecutors in the case had sought more severe sentences. They argued that "beneath the religion there is a clear, institutionalised business drift" in which money was extorted by psychological manipulation. They said people with real psychological problems had been targeted.

Scientology is officially listed as a dangerous cult in France, and the case has led to renewed calls for the organisation to be banned in the country. Monday's verdict is a setback for the group's efforts to be recognised as a religion.