Scientology in France saved from dissolution by law change

The Church of Scientology in France is awaiting the verdict of a trial in which it was accused of organized fraud and brainwashing people. The prosecuting judge asked the sentence deliberation authorities for the dissolution of the Church’s two principal structures, and suspended prison sentences and fines of over $5.8 million, but a change in French law means that dissolving the Church is no longer a possibility.

French authorities decided to act against what it sees as the abusive tactics used by organizations it deemed to be religious sects in the 1990s after various cases of abuse, murder and collective suicide thrust the issue into the public eye.

One major element of the government’s anti-sect policy was the creation of the Miviludes – ‘La Mission Interministérielle de Lutte contre les Dérives Sectaires’ – or ‘Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combatting Cultic Deviances’ in English.

Miviludes’ mission includes the identification and investigation of organizations classified as sects and which are considered to be a threat to public order or which otherwise violate French law. It also coordinates action against those organizations, informs the public of potential risks and helps victims to receive aid.

The Church of Scientology has been judged to be a sect in France by Miviludes.

Scientology in France has long been suspected of abuse by Miviludes, which has fought a long-running battle against it, including a campaign which aims to eliminate what it sees as the Church’s infiltration of international organizations such as the United Nations.

Various past court cases in France have cleared the Church of wrongdoing, and its critics accuse it of using its connections to influential people in order to rig trials.

In July of this year a well-publicized trial in Paris found several individual Scientologists guilty of using organized fraud to gain access to the bank accounts of members or potential members. They were also found guilty on various other charges ranging from brainwashing to fraudulent advertising, and the prosecuting judge asked for the Church’s dissolution in France. The sentence, to be pronounced October 27th, was widely expected to reflect that demand.

However, Miviludes announced yesterday that the law concerned with the dissolving or other curtailments of the business activities of individuals was secretly modified on May 12th, just before the Paris trial began.

The modification, introduced by the French Law Commission, excluded individuals from dissolution proceedings. This means that as individual Scientologists and not the Church itself were the accused in the trial, the law can no longer ask for the Church’s dissolution because the individuals themselves can no longer be sentenced to the dissolution of their own activities.

Miviludes contends that this modification was carried out hurriedly and in total secrecy, which is why judges and lawyers were not aware of it during the trial.

In a written press statement issued by its president, George Fenech, Miviludes says it has “...discovered with consternation the suppression of the sentence option of dissolution of an individual’s activities in cases of fraud, which was voted [by the Law Commission] on May 12, 2009 and promulgated on May 13. The statement goes on to express Miviludes’ fears that the modification, “...which was introduced without debate...” will “...render inoperative the sentence requisitions of the Paris trial against the structures of the Church of Scientology.”

Fenech also said that “Faced with organizations of a sectarian nature which represent a real danger for law and order, the justice system should be able to have such a measure at its disposal” before expressing his wish that “...a new law be issued to redress this prejudicial situation...as quickly as possible.”

Olivier Morice, the plaintiffs’ lawyer during the Paris trial, wrote to French Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie to denounce the modification, saying, “As of this time we have not found any legitimate motive for the suppression of the dissolution option, which was introduced more or less secretly and applied immediately.”

A Justice Ministry spokesman said that the government would revise the law as soon as possible, adding that according to other existing laws the judge can still call for Church of Scientology premises and facilities that were used to commit a crime to be closed. Critics say however that those laws do not permit the mandatory winding up of all the Church’s activities."

The Church of Scientology’s lawyer during the Paris trial, Patrick Maisonneuve, said in a statement that the introduction of the modification did not involve “…a plot.” He added that in his opinion the timing of the change was no more than “…a coincidence.”

Michael Cosgrove is a Lyon, France-based freelance journalist, business translator, and interpreter and teaches English to French businesspeople.