VOLUME 6 |ISSUE 2 |2015 3335
Cult leader denies Miracle Mineral Solution is dangerous
As the Immigration Department reviews whether Genesis II
Church of Health and Healing American leader Jim Humble
is a “danger to the Australian community” and should be
allowed to sell his product here, he claims it is a “crime against
humanity” for people to criticize the potentially deadly bleach,
Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), he promotes as a miracle cure.
The solution has poisoned at least 10 Victorians, prompting
calls for it to be banned amid investigations by health
authorities.
Humble refused to accept the Herald Sun’s independent analysis
of the untested, homemade concoction as an unstable and
harmful chlorous acid. He defended it because “no one died
after taking MMS.” He has claimed the bleach “can save people’s
lives and stop their suffering” and also has tried to argue that
MMS, which is sold in Australia through a legal loophole as a
“water purification” treatment, had “never been known to cause
blood diseases or kidney failure.” But data shows that at least
four Victorians were hospitalized after suffering severe gastro-
intestinal issues when they took the solution. The cultic group
he leads recommends MMS to treat diseases including cancer,
HIV/AIDS, asthma, and autism, and has even suggested it could
treat Ebola.
Mr. Humble was to visit Melbourne this past November, but
the seminar that had been planned was shut down. Mayor
Geoff Lake said Mr. Humble’s cult was not welcome because
public health could have been affected. Mr. Humble refused to
be interviewed and did not respond to questions. (Herald Sun,
1/4/15)
Russia’s Supreme Court sustains ruling against Jehovah’s
Witnesses
Russia’s Supreme Court has sustained the ruling of Samara’s
regional court declaring the Jehovah’s Witnesses from
Samara is an extremist organization. In May 2014, the regional
court ruled in favor of the prosecutor in the case against the
Jehovah’s Witnesses based on the discovery of extremist
materials seized from the community premises that the
organization had kept for mass distribution.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have long encountered difficulties
with Russian authorities and have repeatedly been banned
from circulating their literature. Between 2009 and 2013,
various Russian regional courts found 68 Jehovah’s Witnesses
publications to be extremist, according to Lenta.ru. In 2014, a
prosecutor warned members of the organization about the
prohibition of extremist activity, and the Prosecutor’s office
of Russia’s Tver region wants the organization’s website shut
down. In January of this year, the Kurgan municipal court
also handed down a decision that Witness publications are
extremist. TASS reports that the Kurgan court decision will be
appealed. (Itar-Tass, 11/13/14 The Moscow Times, 12/3/14)
Suspected cult leader charged in Brixton slavery case
Aravindan Balakrishnan, the alleged leader of an extreme
left-wing Maoist cult in south London, has been charged in
connection with suspected domestic slavery and a string of
sexual offences. The 73-year-old was arrested last November
and charged after a lengthy police investigation into allegations
that he held a number of women against their will at a house
in Brixton. The police said he had been charged with one
count of cruelty to a person under 16 years, one count of false
imprisonment, 19 counts of indecent assault, and four counts
of rape. The alleged offenses relate to three women. He was
scheduled to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court in
December 2014.
Mr. Balakrishnan and his wife, Chanda Pattni, 67, had been
arrested in November 2013 on suspicion of holding three
people as slaves and forcing them into domestic servitude
within a Marxist cult for more than 30 years. Mrs. Pattni was
subsequently released without charge, but Mr. Balakrishnan
was re-arrested on suspicion of sexual offenses.
At the time of the arrests, the police said the group would
have appeared to the outside world to be a normal family,
but detectives moved in after one of the women decided to
report her ordeal to a charity that helps people in slavery.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s human trafficking unit
said at the time that the case was “completely unique” in their
experience. (The Telegraph, 12/11/14)
Jehovah’s Witnesses ordered to pay $13.5M to alleged
victim
A $13.5 million judgment was awarded in December to Jose
Lopez of San Diego, who according to his lawsuit was one of
8 childhood victims of “very aggressive abuse” between 1982
and 1995 at the hands of his Jehovah’s Witnesses Bible study
teacher, Gonzalo Campos. Although the alleged molestation
happened on one occasion, Lopez’s attorney explained that the
high amount awarded reflects the severe consequences Lopez
has faced as a result, including post-traumatic stress disorder,
addiction, and trust issues.
The lawsuit names the defendant as the Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society of New York, which oversees Jehovah’s Witness
churches. The judgment includes $10.5 million in punitive
damages relating to Watchtower’s response to the Campos
scandal, and “…how they covered this up for years and allowed
multiple children to be injured. They protected and harbored a
criminal.” Watchtower plans to appeal the judgment. (NBC 7 San
Diego, 10/30/14)
Judge stops children of Jehovah’s Witnesses mother from
going to church
A New Zealand judge has stopped the children of a Jehovah’s
Witnesses mother from going to church and attending
Witnesses meetings, and has allowed them to attend birthday
parties and Christmas celebrations. The High Court ruling,
released publicly in December 2014, comes after the children’s
separated parents appealed against Family Court orders
regarding custody details.
After the parents separated in 2010, the mother became an
“adherent of the Jehovah Witness[es] faith,” the ruling said.
Without the father’s knowledge, she introduced the children,
then aged 4 and 6, to the religion. A Family Court ruling at that
time ordered that the children’s father be their main caregiver
and placed constraints on the children’s participation in the
Jehovah’s Witnesses faith. Both parents appealed the ruling. In
the appeal process, the children told the court they would be
“angry” and “sad” if they were not allowed to worship Jehovah
by attending services.
Even so, the recent ruling said the children had a right to be
exposed to each of their parents’ religious beliefs, but that
Cult leader denies Miracle Mineral Solution is dangerous
As the Immigration Department reviews whether Genesis II
Church of Health and Healing American leader Jim Humble
is a “danger to the Australian community” and should be
allowed to sell his product here, he claims it is a “crime against
humanity” for people to criticize the potentially deadly bleach,
Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), he promotes as a miracle cure.
The solution has poisoned at least 10 Victorians, prompting
calls for it to be banned amid investigations by health
authorities.
Humble refused to accept the Herald Sun’s independent analysis
of the untested, homemade concoction as an unstable and
harmful chlorous acid. He defended it because “no one died
after taking MMS.” He has claimed the bleach “can save people’s
lives and stop their suffering” and also has tried to argue that
MMS, which is sold in Australia through a legal loophole as a
“water purification” treatment, had “never been known to cause
blood diseases or kidney failure.” But data shows that at least
four Victorians were hospitalized after suffering severe gastro-
intestinal issues when they took the solution. The cultic group
he leads recommends MMS to treat diseases including cancer,
HIV/AIDS, asthma, and autism, and has even suggested it could
treat Ebola.
Mr. Humble was to visit Melbourne this past November, but
the seminar that had been planned was shut down. Mayor
Geoff Lake said Mr. Humble’s cult was not welcome because
public health could have been affected. Mr. Humble refused to
be interviewed and did not respond to questions. (Herald Sun,
1/4/15)
Russia’s Supreme Court sustains ruling against Jehovah’s
Witnesses
Russia’s Supreme Court has sustained the ruling of Samara’s
regional court declaring the Jehovah’s Witnesses from
Samara is an extremist organization. In May 2014, the regional
court ruled in favor of the prosecutor in the case against the
Jehovah’s Witnesses based on the discovery of extremist
materials seized from the community premises that the
organization had kept for mass distribution.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have long encountered difficulties
with Russian authorities and have repeatedly been banned
from circulating their literature. Between 2009 and 2013,
various Russian regional courts found 68 Jehovah’s Witnesses
publications to be extremist, according to Lenta.ru. In 2014, a
prosecutor warned members of the organization about the
prohibition of extremist activity, and the Prosecutor’s office
of Russia’s Tver region wants the organization’s website shut
down. In January of this year, the Kurgan municipal court
also handed down a decision that Witness publications are
extremist. TASS reports that the Kurgan court decision will be
appealed. (Itar-Tass, 11/13/14 The Moscow Times, 12/3/14)
Suspected cult leader charged in Brixton slavery case
Aravindan Balakrishnan, the alleged leader of an extreme
left-wing Maoist cult in south London, has been charged in
connection with suspected domestic slavery and a string of
sexual offences. The 73-year-old was arrested last November
and charged after a lengthy police investigation into allegations
that he held a number of women against their will at a house
in Brixton. The police said he had been charged with one
count of cruelty to a person under 16 years, one count of false
imprisonment, 19 counts of indecent assault, and four counts
of rape. The alleged offenses relate to three women. He was
scheduled to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court in
December 2014.
Mr. Balakrishnan and his wife, Chanda Pattni, 67, had been
arrested in November 2013 on suspicion of holding three
people as slaves and forcing them into domestic servitude
within a Marxist cult for more than 30 years. Mrs. Pattni was
subsequently released without charge, but Mr. Balakrishnan
was re-arrested on suspicion of sexual offenses.
At the time of the arrests, the police said the group would
have appeared to the outside world to be a normal family,
but detectives moved in after one of the women decided to
report her ordeal to a charity that helps people in slavery.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s human trafficking unit
said at the time that the case was “completely unique” in their
experience. (The Telegraph, 12/11/14)
Jehovah’s Witnesses ordered to pay $13.5M to alleged
victim
A $13.5 million judgment was awarded in December to Jose
Lopez of San Diego, who according to his lawsuit was one of
8 childhood victims of “very aggressive abuse” between 1982
and 1995 at the hands of his Jehovah’s Witnesses Bible study
teacher, Gonzalo Campos. Although the alleged molestation
happened on one occasion, Lopez’s attorney explained that the
high amount awarded reflects the severe consequences Lopez
has faced as a result, including post-traumatic stress disorder,
addiction, and trust issues.
The lawsuit names the defendant as the Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society of New York, which oversees Jehovah’s Witness
churches. The judgment includes $10.5 million in punitive
damages relating to Watchtower’s response to the Campos
scandal, and “…how they covered this up for years and allowed
multiple children to be injured. They protected and harbored a
criminal.” Watchtower plans to appeal the judgment. (NBC 7 San
Diego, 10/30/14)
Judge stops children of Jehovah’s Witnesses mother from
going to church
A New Zealand judge has stopped the children of a Jehovah’s
Witnesses mother from going to church and attending
Witnesses meetings, and has allowed them to attend birthday
parties and Christmas celebrations. The High Court ruling,
released publicly in December 2014, comes after the children’s
separated parents appealed against Family Court orders
regarding custody details.
After the parents separated in 2010, the mother became an
“adherent of the Jehovah Witness[es] faith,” the ruling said.
Without the father’s knowledge, she introduced the children,
then aged 4 and 6, to the religion. A Family Court ruling at that
time ordered that the children’s father be their main caregiver
and placed constraints on the children’s participation in the
Jehovah’s Witnesses faith. Both parents appealed the ruling. In
the appeal process, the children told the court they would be
“angry” and “sad” if they were not allowed to worship Jehovah
by attending services.
Even so, the recent ruling said the children had a right to be
exposed to each of their parents’ religious beliefs, but that
