TWO FLAGSHIP branches of the Church of Scientology in France have been sentenced to pay fines of more than €600,000 after being convicted of “fraud in an organised gang” yesterday by a court in Paris.
The judgment against the Scientology Celebrity Centre and a related bookshop in Paris is one of the most important to involve the controversial organisation in recent years.
The judges stopped short of the total ban called for by the prosecution, so the church will be allowed to continue its activities in France, where it is estimated to have 45,000 members.
Four officials of the church in France received suspended prison sentences of between 18 months and two years as well as fines ranging from €5,000 to €30,000.
Judges said the four had avoided jail in part because of “efforts by the [church] to change its practices”.
An appeal is expected.
The case was brought by two female former members who alleged that they were pressured into paying large sums of money to the church after joining in the 1990s.
They also alleged that members of the church had harassed them to buy a variety of products including vitamins and to sign up for “purification” courses costing thousands of euro. One said a financial adviser from the church had encouraged her to take out a large loan to finance her activities within the organisation.
Prosecutors had at one point requested that the group be dissolved in France and fined €4 million. However, last month it was revealed that a modification of French law meant courts no longer had the power to dissolve organisations found guilty of fraud.
Scientology was founded by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1954 and claims to have 12 million followers worldwide. – (Guardian service)