Scientology has lost a major court case in Germany. Scientology wanted to stop the OPC (organization for the protection of the constitution, a federal agency has an eye on political extremist groups) from observing the cult. The court held that the observation is ok, because scientology wants to abolish or restrict human rights and basic laws. This is proven both by public and non-public documents.

The scientology attorneys claimed that Hubbard's policies are subject to interpretation, that they are only for internal use, and that the 12000(!) german members don't follow Hubbard's requests.

The case can be appealed.

Tilman

-- Tilman Hausherr [KoX, SP5.55] Entheta * Enturbulation * Entertainment tilman@berlin.snafu.de http://www.xenu.de

Resistance is futile. You will be enturbulated. Xenu always prevails.

Find broken links on your web site: http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html The Xenu bookstore: http://home.snafu.de/tilman/bookstore.html

<p><hr><p> Subject: Re: Scientology loses major court case in Germany
From: boobootigger@webtv.net (Tigger)
Date: 13 Nov 2004 06:53:16 -0800

Tilman Hausherr <tilman-usenet@snafu.de> wrote in message news:<i2r8p0ppht2l4q2tmlfiqcdequubpfnf1l@4ax.com>... > Scientology has lost a major court case in Germany. Scientology wanted
> to stop the OPC (organization for the protection of the constitution, a
> federal agency has an eye on political extremist groups) from observing
> the cult. The court held that the observation is ok, because scientology
> wants to abolish or restrict human rights and basic laws. This is proven
> both by public and non-public documents.
>
> The scientology attorneys claimed that Hubbard's policies are subject to
> interpretation, that they are only for internal use, and that the
> 12000(!) german members don't follow Hubbard's requests.
>
> The case can be appealed.
>
> Tilman

God & Consequences http://www.storyhunters.com/godandcon/archives/001390.html Changed:4:09 PM on Friday, November 12, 2004

The Church of Scientology has suffered a legal setback in Germany.

A German court here has rejected an appeal from the US-based Church of Scientology which called for an end to the surveillance of its activities by the domestic security services.

The court ruled on Thursday that some of the Scientologists' activities were "contrary to the foundations of democracy" and went against human rights.

The German authorities placed the church under observation in 1997 when it estimated the number of members in Germany at between 5,000 and 6,000 although the Scientologists say they have 30,000 members.

In its last report, in 2003, the German domestic security services accused the movement of influencing its members in a way that was "hostile to the constitution." (Deutsche Welle, courtesy of RNB) (Religion News Blog : Scientologists Fail to Escape Surveillance http://www.religionnewsblog.com/9369-Scientologists_Fail_to_Escape_Surveillance.html )

Well, since a bunch of Scientologists are movie stars, they should be used to being filmed or recorded, shouldn't they?

<p><hr><p> Subject: Scientologists Fail to Escape Surveillance
From: janeebeslis@hotmail.com (Praxis)
Date: 13 Nov 2004 07:22:11 -0800

From http://www.dw-world.de/dw/briefs/0,1574,1395135,00.html

Scientologists Fail to Escape Surveillance 12.11.2004

A German court here has rejected an appeal from the US-based Church of Scientology which called for an end to the surveillance of its activities by the domestic security services. The court ruled on Thursday that some of the Scientologists' activities were "contrary to the foundations of democracy" and went against human rights. The German authorities placed the church under observation in 1997 when it estimated the number of members in Germany at between 5,000 and 6,000 although the Scientologists say they have 30,000 members. In its last report, in 2003, the German domestic security services accused the movement of influencing its members in a way that was "hostile to the constitution." The group is considered a sect in other Western countries, including France and Greece. (AFP)

<p><hr><p> Subject: Scientology loses court battle to block German surveillance
From: Palinurus <palinurus@h-o-d.a-a-r-g.n-e-t>
Date: 13 Nov 2004 12:55:04 -0500

Copyright 2004 Deutsche Presse-Agentur Deutsche Presse-Agentur

November 11, 2004, Thursday 15:55:07 Central European Time

SECTION: Politics

LENGTH: 353 words

HEADLINE: Scientology loses court battle to block German surveillance

DATELINE: Cologne, Germany

BODY: The Church of Scientology lost a major a legal battle to end federal surveillance of its activities in Germany Thursday when a court ruled that Scientology represents a "threat to democracy". The ruling by Cologne Administrative Court ended a nearly two-year legal battle to end what the church called "persecution" by federal authorities in Germany. The lawsuit accused the German government of "a cheap and intentionally misleading crusade" against Scientology in Germany, where Scientology is widely viewed as a subversive cult. In Thursday's ruling, the Cologne court said government attorneys had produced compelling evidence to support their contention that "Scientology is a dangerous sect that poses a threat to democratic institutions". The organization is under surveillance by German intelligence as "a movement posing a threat to the free and constitutional order" in Germany. The German federal government, various state and local governments have all produced booklets and other information to warn unwary citizens about the "dangers" of Scientology. The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report has repeatedly accused the German government of discrimination against Scientologists. Last year the Federal Office of Finances in Bonn granted partial tax-exempt status to the controversial Church of Scientology, retroactive back to 1994. The Office ruled that, because the Church of Scientology is classified as a tax-exempt religious organization in the United States, it cannot be taxed in Germany. However the ruling, applicable to the period 1994 to 2005, affected only those organization licensing fees which are forwarded to Scientology headquarters in the United States. Previously, 25 per cent of the fee revenues was handed over to German tax coffers. The ruling did not affect Scientology revenues which remain in Germany. Scientology was founded in 1954 by science-fiction author L. Ronald Hubbard. It set up a chapter in Germany in 1970 and claims between 20,000 and 70,000 members. German authorities put the figure at closer to 6,000. dpa eg sc

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