How a prison sentence turns
into acknowledgement as religion
Scientology uses a conviction for death and multiple fraud for advertising purposes.

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Dianetik-Scientology Stuttgart e.V.

Press Release 10 July 99 French Cassation Court rejects General State Attorney's office appeal Scientology acknowledged as religion Paris A new chapter began in the history of the Scientology Church in France with a decision handed down by the French Cassation Court on June 30, 1999.

The highest French court upheld a decision by the Appeals Court in Lyon - which made headlines all across Europe in July 1997 - whereby the Scientology Church was stated to have fulfilled all criteria of a religious congregation.

The General Attorney's Office had taken the appeal to the highest court to get nine prior acquittals (in three judgments), and primarily the establishment of the religious nature of Scientology by the Lyon Superior State Court, overturned. The latter was a primary attachment of the complainant's representative in the appeals proceeding.

The highest court dismissed the appeal of the General State Attorney's office concerning the acquittals as well as the establishment of the religious nature of Scientology and found that the conclusions of the Superior State Court about the religious nature of Scientology were well founded and let stand the contention in the appeal by the General State Attorney's office, since it had not recognized any logical or legal mistakes.

With that, the acknowledgment of the religious nature of the Scientology Church by the highest court in France has been verified. Now, according to the French Constitution and the European Human Rights Convention, Scientologists may freely proselytize and practice their religion without governmental restrictions.

The judgment also has significance for the criticism of the Scientology Church in Germany, because a one-time negative decision by the Lyon State Court from 1996 against Scientology continues to be distributed even today in official publications.

For the content and further information: Reinhard Egy
--------- Background:

On November 22, 1996 in Lyon, France, the former director of the local Scientology branch was sentenced to three years in prison plus 150,000 DM in fines. The foremost accusation consisted of blame for a Scientology adherent's suicide. A total of 25 Scientology adherents altogether were charged for various crimes. Five were exonerated.

The decision was confirmed in an appeal on July 28, 1997. The sentence was imposed provisionally. In the original hearing only half of he sentence had been made provisional. Imposition of a suspended punishment is applied in proportion to personal conditions. Therefore it was taken under consideration that the accused held the Scientology organization to be a religious community. Naturally the court addressed the arguments of the accused and - as usual - accepted some and rejected others. But the acceptance only pertains to the person of the accused, not to his organization.

A Scientology spokesman in France said of the outcome of the appeal: With the more lenient sentence the court indirectly acknowledged the organization as a religious organization. Scientology Chief Jentzsch from the USA: "Victory for religious freedom." He said a dream had come true.

News agencies subsequently reported that the court had acknowledged Scientology as a religion in France. That, however, does not fall under the jurisdiction of a criminal court. Details: AGPF-Info 11/97 Scientology in France: Conviction confirmed. Scientology acknowledged?

The judgment was re-confirmed in an appeal of June 30, 1999. The court made it clear that it was not deciding whether Scientology was a religion.

The relevant paragraph:

"Attendu qu'en l'=E9tat de ces seules =E9nonciations, exemptes d'insuffisance ou de contradiction et proc=E9dant de l'appr=E9ciation souveraine, par les juges de fond, des faits et circonstances de la cause, contradictoirement d=E9battus, et abstraction faite d'un motif inop=E9rant mais surabondant, d=E9pourvu en l'esp=E8ce de toute port=E9e= juridique, relatif =E0 la qualit=E9 de religion pr=E8t=E9e =E0 l'=E9glise= de scientologie, la cour d'appel a justifi=E9 sa d=E9cision sans encourir le=s griefs all=E9gu=E9s"

An English translation available over the internet from Roger Gonnet http://home.worldnet.fr/gonnet/cassation.htm:
N=B0 A 98-80.501D N=B03203

MPH 30 juin 1999 M. GOMEZ, pr=E9sident, R E P U B L I Q U E F R A N C A I S E
AU NOM DU PEUPLE FRANCAIS The Cassation Cour [more or less similar to Supreme Court], Criminal Room, through its public hearing held into the Palais de Justice de Paris , has rendered the following ruling:

Ruling on the appeal formed by:

-The General Prosecutor near the Lyon Court of Appeal, against the ruling of the 4th above said Court Room, on July 28th 1997, which had notably relaxed Yves VEAU, Laurent QUOISSE, Damien CALVIN, Henri CAILLAUD, Jean-Paul CHAPELLET, Dani=E8le CHEVOLLEAU =E9pouse GOUNORD, Alain BAROU and Marie-Annick BAUDRY =E9pouse ROBERT, charged with fraud and fraud complicity;

(page 2)=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D The Court, ruling after debates in the public hearing done on May 19th, 1999, where have been present : M.

Gomez, pr=E9sident, M. Martin, reporter adviser, MM.

Schumacher, Pibouleau, Challe, Roger, room's advisers, Mme de la Lance, MM. Soulard, Samuel, public auditors;

Attorney General: M. de Gouttes, Room's clerk: Mme Daud=E9 From the report of M. the adviser MARTIN, the remarks done by the civil professional company PIWNICA & MOLINIE, attorneys in the Court, and conclusions of M. Attorney General de GOUTTES;

Considering the memoranda produced by demand and by defense;

Whereas it results from the attacked appeal that the leaders of the Dianetics Center and of the church of scientology of Lyon, the members of the staff of those associations and three executives of the church of scientology of Paris, have been sued before the correctionnelle [criminal room, by opposition to the "assise" court, where more serious crimes are judged] juridiction, notably on fraud and complicty counts;

That the Appeal Judges have held into the links of the accusation Jean-Jacques Mazier, Corinne Medallin spouse Barou, and Pascale Dullin, spouse Gaidos, leaders of the Lyon associations, as authors of the frauds and some other accused under accomplices quality, noting that the firsts, with help and support from the seconds, had made of the dianetics center and the church of scientology of Lyon, enterprises of improper sollicitation to the prejudice of their adepts, by using two types of fraudulent manoeuvres;

That the ruling first noted the publication into the local media of advertisings never mentioning that they emanated from the church of scientology, written in equivocal terms and sometimes indubitably lying ones, to make believe or let believe to the reader that some job offers were at stake, offers tied to books buying, to courses attendance and to the participation to immediately payable sessions, while in fact the real purpose was to get them adhering to scientology and not to get a job offer;

That it then noticed the massive distribution of leaflets, never referencing the scientology church, proposing (page 3)=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D free personnality tests, analyzed on computers by people having not the least competence for such matters and revealing almost systematically heavy personal problems;

that it adds that those fraudulent manoeuvres were intended to persuade [the public] of the existence of faked enterprises [activities, systems etc.], i.e., the associations called centre de dian=E9tique de Lyon and =E9glise de scientologie de Lyon, presented as institutions able to solve, through L. Ron Hubbard doctrine's application, the pretended difficulties revealed through the tests and to privilege the bossoming and success of the adept, while in fact those associations dispensated, with increasing payments asked, courses, auditing sessions, purification cures, which could end, in some cases, in a true mental manipulation, were constituting enterprises having as only purpose or for essential purpose, the improper sollicitation of the adept's fortune;
In this status;

Regarding the first cassation's cause, proposed by the general prosecutor near the Lyon Court of Appeal, taken from the infringement of articles 405 old, 313-1 new, of the penal Code;

"from the fact that the ruling has relaxed the above named accused for default of intentionnal elemnt;

"while it does not pertain to the judicial judge to pronounce himself on the religious character of a community such scientology church and to draw conclusions upon the good faith area;
Regarding the second cassation's cause, taken from infringement of articles 405 old, 313-1 new of the penal Code, 593 of the penal procedure Code, lack of legal basis, insufficiency or motives' contradictions "regarding the fact that the ruling relaxed the above named accused because of absence of intentionnal item;

"while the appeal court could not, through observation of inapplicable facts to a same group of persons, draw into the appreciation of their good faith, consequences diverging whose motivation had not been explicited;

(page 4)=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Regarding the third cassation cause, taken from the infringement of articles 59, 60 and 405 old, 121-7 and 313-1 new of the Penal Code, lack of legal base, insufficiency or motives' contradictions;

"regarding the fact that the ruling relexed three executives of the church of scientology of Paris of the count of frauds complicity;

"while first, the appeal court, which noticed to the count of these three executives, actions of help and support, did not draw legal consequences from its conclusions;

"while secondly, their bad faith results from the identification of their fraud activities between the church of scientology Paris with [activities] of the executives in Lyon scientology church;
The causes being so exposed;

Whereas the appeal court, primarily, after having reminded that the religious freedom was complete and under the only restrictions resulting of public security measures, public health or public morality, said that the church of scientology can vindicate the religion's title, before though, to notice that individuals could use a religious doctrine, licit in itself, to financial or commercial purposes to defraud good faith people and that the practice of a cult can lead to fraudulent manoeuvres from certain members of that religion;

Whereas that, to relax Alain Barou, Laurent Quoisse, Henri Caillaud, Damien Calvin and Marie-Annick Robert, members of the staff of the two Lyon associations quoted above and getting a symbolic allocation, the appeal judges mention that these accused, "who entered in scientology"

trhough similar methods to those described by the plaintiffs, and who could, at least for some of them and in a relative measure, be taken as victims themselves, were in fact mere parts of the associations they helped to run;

that it [the appeal court] adds that, restricted to precises roles, they did not know obligatorily the fraudulent processes used by Jean-Jacques Mazier, Corinne Medallin and Pascale Dullin, and that a doubt remains regarding the moral element of the fraud and complicity infringements;

That, to get rid also of the charges upon Dani=E8le Gounord, Jean-Paul Chapellet and Yves Veau, executives exerting different roles into the scientology church in Paris, the ruling said that if it certain that all thre=e helped punctually to the two churches of Lyon by having cooperation relationships , the complete examination of the procedure does not allow to conclude that they had, through provocation [orders] or instructions, been part of execution of the fraudulent manoeuvres undertaken by Jean-Jacques Mazier, Corinne Medallin and Pascale Dullin to commit the fraud which have been accounted to them, neither that they had knowingly favoured the running of those enterprises keeping on acting fraudulently;

Whereas under such only elements, lacking of insufficiencies or contradiction and coming from sovereign appreciation, through the judges operating on the merits, on facts and circumstances of the cause, contradictorily debated, and without taking into account an inoperating motive but superabundant [=3Dwhich should not had been said, is displaced or unapplicable, not], entirely lacking of any judicial influence, related to the quality of religion attributed to the church of scientology, the appeal court has justified its decision without incurring the allegated torts;

From this the causes cannot be supported;

And whereas the ruling is regular in its form;

DISMISSES the appeal;

So done and judged by the Cassation's Court, criminal room, and pronounced as such by the president, on june thirty, nineteen hundred ninety nine;

Following this the present ruling has been signed by the president, the reporter and the room's clerk;
--- This is the communiqu=E9 sent from the Mission Interminist=E9rielle de Lutte contre les Sectes (MILS) , depending of the Prime Minister services, Paris.

(translation is unoffical, I don't know if there is an official one)

PREMIER MINISTRE
MISSION INTERMINISTERIELLE DE LUTTE CONTRE LES SECTES Paris, July 1st, 1999
-Press release- Scientology could not be recognized as a religion before Courts


The Interministerial Mission to Struggle against Cults acknowledges formally, sactisfactorily, of the Supreme Court ruling on June 30th, 1999.

First, the undubitable character of the support given by Mme Gounord and MM. Chapellet and Veau to both the scientologist Lyon "churches" has been reaffirmed.

Secondly, the Supreme Court limits itself to notice that the examination of the proceedings, which excluded the above persons of any sentence for the fraud affair committed in Lyon by three scientology executives, did not not allow to prove that they had "by provocation or instructions, been part of the conception or execution " of so said fraudulent manoeuvres. Implicitly, the Court reminds that no particular penal immunity has existed.

Third, the Supreme Court reminds that it is not up to the judge to rule over the religious character of an association. The whereas of the Lyon Court, from which scientology abusevely said it "had recognized it as a religion" by a french court, is therefore nullified.

--- Unofficial translations of German media, For non-commercial use only Recent events - http://cisar.org/trnmenu.htm Informational publications http://members.tripod.com/German_Scn_News Over 1200 articles sorted by date http://cisar.org/sortdate.htm

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