41 VOLUME 5 |ISSUE 3 |2014
The court again stayed Dandar’s claim for damages under Section
1983 pending the resolution of the state-court action, noting that
federal courts have a duty to assume jurisdiction where it properly
exists. (Further details regarding the actions and counteractions
between Dandar and Scientology and its legal representatives
leading up to this recent judicial decision are available online at
courthousenews.com/2014/06/04/68449.htm). (Courthouse News
Service, 6/4/14)
Scientologists Accused of Brainwashing French
Company’s Employees
French prosecutors are investigating the Church of Scientology
for alleged harassment of employees of a company whose boss
had joined the organization. The 12 employees of Arcadia, based
near Paris, claim that Scientologists became “omnipresent” in
the business after their boss turned to the cult in 2000. In 2008
he restructured the company following the advice of alleged
Scientologist trainers.
The plaintiffs say they were forced to undergo a “training routine”
by Scientologists that amounted to psychological harassment and
an effort to brainwash them. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Olivier Morice,
also told the AFP news agency that “the Scientologist trainers
infiltrated the company with the sole intention of financially
pillaging it for their personal profit and that of Scientology.” He
estimated that between one and two million euros had been
embezzled. Sources confirmed that prosecutors in Versailles are
investigating the charges.
Scientology claims to be a religion but is classified as a cult
in France, where an appeals court confirmed fines of 200,000
and 400,000 euros in 2013 on the organization’s bookshop and
“Celebrity Centre” in Paris for organized fraud. (RFI, 7/24/14)
Judge Rules Scientology Leader Not Required to Give
Deposition
Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige has sidestepped
giving a deposition in a high-profile harassment lawsuit filed
in Texas by Monique Rathbun, wife of vocal church critic Marty
Rathbun. A Texas appeals court this week overturned December’s
ruling by Comal County, Texas District Judge Dib Waldrip, who
had ordered Miscavige to submit to questioning.
Church attorneys argued from the outset that Waldrip’s court had
no jurisdiction over Miscavige because he lives in California and
has no connection to church activities in Texas. Miscavige has
guided the church since founder L. Ron Hubbard died in 1986 and
has testified a handful of times.
Monique Rathbun alleges in her 2013 suit that Miscavige directed
a 3-year campaign of harassment, spying, and intimidation aimed
at her and her husband that began soon after Marty Rathbun,
who had worked closely with Miscavige before leaving the church
in 2004, spoke critically of Miscavige to the Tampa Bay Times and
national media in 2009. The suit also names as defendants the
Church of Scientology International, three private investigators,
and a Scientology parishioner.
Church officers and attorneys do not contest that the Rathbuns
were targets, suggesting that those who watched and confronted
the couple were investigating Marty Rathbun’s antichurch
activities and delivery of Scientology services without church
authorization.
In its latest ruling, Texas’ 3rd District Appeals Court agreed that
Miscavige is protected by Texas “apex deposition doctrine,”
which shields high-ranking executives from being pulled into
burdensome, harassing depositions. However, with additional
questioning of church representatives and further review of
church records, Rathbun’s team could demonstrate that a
Miscavige deposition is necessary, the court said.
Rathbun’s lead attorney, Ray Jeffrey, said striking the deposition
was a blow. Likely next in the case, he said, is a decision on
the church’s appeal of Waldrip’s order in March that denies
Scientology’s motion to dismiss the suit altogether, which could
come by year’s end.
Church officers in Los Angeles did not respond to a request for
comment. (Tampa Bay Times, 7/18/14)
China’s Crackdown on Sects Concerns Mainstream
Churches
A recent campaign by China’s government to crack down on
fringe sects concerns many mainstream churches. With voices
muted by censors, human-rights advocates and some mainstream
religious leaders in China say the latest anticult campaign is
misguided and frequently violates Chinese law. Teng Biao, a
defense lawyer who has represented Falun Gong members in the
past, said the most recent roundups were politically motivated
by the government’s deeply rooted fear of organized religion,
especially of groups it cannot control. “This is an effort to eradicate
an entire group of believers, not just the ones who committed
crimes,” he said.
Likewise, New York Times contributing columnist Murong Xuecun
suggests that the antireligion campaign “is not borne of concern
for public security stemming from a horrific murder,” but is instead
“a concerted effort to bring independent churches and their
followers into line, … the government’s way of strengthening its
control of society.”
On May 28, a woman named Wu Shuoyan was beaten to death
in a McDonald’s restaurant in Zhaoyuan in China’s Shandong
Province while people stood idly by. The state broadcaster closed-
circuit TV (CCTV) announced that Wu Shuoyan’s murderers were
members of the Church of Almighty God, or Quannengshen,
also known as Eastern Lightning, a Christian sect, and implied
that the killers’ faith had to do with their act.
Soon after the killing, the Xinhua news agency reported that
authorities had rounded up about fifteen hundred cult members.
Xinhua’s report said that among those arrested, 59 had already
been handed prison terms of up to 4 years. The agency said those
arrested included members of another Christian group known
as Disciples Sect, and it appears many of those were arrested as
early as 2012.
The court again stayed Dandar’s claim for damages under Section
1983 pending the resolution of the state-court action, noting that
federal courts have a duty to assume jurisdiction where it properly
exists. (Further details regarding the actions and counteractions
between Dandar and Scientology and its legal representatives
leading up to this recent judicial decision are available online at
courthousenews.com/2014/06/04/68449.htm). (Courthouse News
Service, 6/4/14)
Scientologists Accused of Brainwashing French
Company’s Employees
French prosecutors are investigating the Church of Scientology
for alleged harassment of employees of a company whose boss
had joined the organization. The 12 employees of Arcadia, based
near Paris, claim that Scientologists became “omnipresent” in
the business after their boss turned to the cult in 2000. In 2008
he restructured the company following the advice of alleged
Scientologist trainers.
The plaintiffs say they were forced to undergo a “training routine”
by Scientologists that amounted to psychological harassment and
an effort to brainwash them. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Olivier Morice,
also told the AFP news agency that “the Scientologist trainers
infiltrated the company with the sole intention of financially
pillaging it for their personal profit and that of Scientology.” He
estimated that between one and two million euros had been
embezzled. Sources confirmed that prosecutors in Versailles are
investigating the charges.
Scientology claims to be a religion but is classified as a cult
in France, where an appeals court confirmed fines of 200,000
and 400,000 euros in 2013 on the organization’s bookshop and
“Celebrity Centre” in Paris for organized fraud. (RFI, 7/24/14)
Judge Rules Scientology Leader Not Required to Give
Deposition
Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige has sidestepped
giving a deposition in a high-profile harassment lawsuit filed
in Texas by Monique Rathbun, wife of vocal church critic Marty
Rathbun. A Texas appeals court this week overturned December’s
ruling by Comal County, Texas District Judge Dib Waldrip, who
had ordered Miscavige to submit to questioning.
Church attorneys argued from the outset that Waldrip’s court had
no jurisdiction over Miscavige because he lives in California and
has no connection to church activities in Texas. Miscavige has
guided the church since founder L. Ron Hubbard died in 1986 and
has testified a handful of times.
Monique Rathbun alleges in her 2013 suit that Miscavige directed
a 3-year campaign of harassment, spying, and intimidation aimed
at her and her husband that began soon after Marty Rathbun,
who had worked closely with Miscavige before leaving the church
in 2004, spoke critically of Miscavige to the Tampa Bay Times and
national media in 2009. The suit also names as defendants the
Church of Scientology International, three private investigators,
and a Scientology parishioner.
Church officers and attorneys do not contest that the Rathbuns
were targets, suggesting that those who watched and confronted
the couple were investigating Marty Rathbun’s antichurch
activities and delivery of Scientology services without church
authorization.
In its latest ruling, Texas’ 3rd District Appeals Court agreed that
Miscavige is protected by Texas “apex deposition doctrine,”
which shields high-ranking executives from being pulled into
burdensome, harassing depositions. However, with additional
questioning of church representatives and further review of
church records, Rathbun’s team could demonstrate that a
Miscavige deposition is necessary, the court said.
Rathbun’s lead attorney, Ray Jeffrey, said striking the deposition
was a blow. Likely next in the case, he said, is a decision on
the church’s appeal of Waldrip’s order in March that denies
Scientology’s motion to dismiss the suit altogether, which could
come by year’s end.
Church officers in Los Angeles did not respond to a request for
comment. (Tampa Bay Times, 7/18/14)
China’s Crackdown on Sects Concerns Mainstream
Churches
A recent campaign by China’s government to crack down on
fringe sects concerns many mainstream churches. With voices
muted by censors, human-rights advocates and some mainstream
religious leaders in China say the latest anticult campaign is
misguided and frequently violates Chinese law. Teng Biao, a
defense lawyer who has represented Falun Gong members in the
past, said the most recent roundups were politically motivated
by the government’s deeply rooted fear of organized religion,
especially of groups it cannot control. “This is an effort to eradicate
an entire group of believers, not just the ones who committed
crimes,” he said.
Likewise, New York Times contributing columnist Murong Xuecun
suggests that the antireligion campaign “is not borne of concern
for public security stemming from a horrific murder,” but is instead
“a concerted effort to bring independent churches and their
followers into line, … the government’s way of strengthening its
control of society.”
On May 28, a woman named Wu Shuoyan was beaten to death
in a McDonald’s restaurant in Zhaoyuan in China’s Shandong
Province while people stood idly by. The state broadcaster closed-
circuit TV (CCTV) announced that Wu Shuoyan’s murderers were
members of the Church of Almighty God, or Quannengshen,
also known as Eastern Lightning, a Christian sect, and implied
that the killers’ faith had to do with their act.
Soon after the killing, the Xinhua news agency reported that
authorities had rounded up about fifteen hundred cult members.
Xinhua’s report said that among those arrested, 59 had already
been handed prison terms of up to 4 years. The agency said those
arrested included members of another Christian group known
as Disciples Sect, and it appears many of those were arrested as
early as 2012.
