Chapter 41 - Extortion and threats
Sec. 875 - Interstate communications
"... (d) Whoever, with intent to extort from any person, firm, association, or corporation, any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to injure the property or reputation of the addressee or of another or the reputation of a deceased person or any threat to accuse the addressee or any other person of a crime, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."
Count 1: The misuse of interstate mass mailings by senior officials of the "Office of Special Affairs International" and other associated Scientology entities from 1990 until 1998 to advertise and propagate the stated goal of the destruction of the profession of psychiatry.
The Church of Scientology regards the profession of psychiatry as an enemy and as a competitor in the "mental field." The Scientology management and its various entities propagate that psychiatry is the "root of all evil." It accuses regularly psychiatrists of committing human rights violations and states as its goal to eradicate psychiatry in the society and replace it with Dianetics and Scientology [Exh. No. 255, Excerpt].
Scientology's hatred for psychiatry is based on L. Ron Hubbard's own antagonism towards that profession which he had expressed in dozens of policies and directives to Scientology's public members and staff. These writings represent the philosophical underpinning for Scientology's past and present crusades against the profession per se and its associated institutions. Hubbard wrote most of these policies during times when he and his organization were under intense public and governmental scrutiny, either in the later 1960s (by the British government) or in the early 1980s (by the U. S. Justice Department and the IRS). Thinking that the government actions were part of a global conspiracy, rather looking in his own house, Hubbard focused his hatred towards this imagined "enemy of mankind."
In an LRH Executive Directive" from November 29th, 1968 Hubbard declared war on psychiatry while claiming that the "World Federation of Mental Health" and its affiliates were communist front groups which would infiltrate Western governments and attack Scientology because it "stood in their way [Exh. No. 256]."
Two weeks later, on December 13th, 1968 Hubbard stated that Scientology "had run into biggest swindle of the century." He claimed that a small group was actually behind the attacks on Scientology. This group would control and benefit from government funding of the mental health sector, and was therefore interested to remove the Church of Scientology as a potential competition [Exh. No. 257].
In a technical directive from July 16th, 1970 Hubbard claimed that psychiatry is a "destructive technology" that would make "insane people [Exh. No. 258]."
In another "HCO Bulletin" from July 29th, 1980 he accused psychiatrists of being the cause for a general increase of criminality in society and that the "instigators, patrons and supporters of psychiatry and psychology classify fully and demonstrably as criminals [Exh. No. 259]."
On April 26th, 1982 Hubbard alleged that psychiatric therapy would make a criminal more stupid and make him to commit more crimes after being released. He suggested that psychiatrists, psychologists and its associations therefore are funded by governments, because they "want more citizens robbed and killed." [Exh. No. 260]
During the same year, on May 6th, Hubbard wrote in an another bulletin the following words of wisdom [Exh. No. 261]:
"They say poverty makes crime. They say if one improved education, there would be less crime. They say if one cured the lot of the underprivileged one would have solved crime.
"All these ‘remedies' have proven blatantly false.
"In very poor countries there is little crime. The ‘improving' education, it was tailored to ‘social reform,' not teaching skills. And it is a total failure. The fact that rewarding the underprivileged has simply wrecked schools and neighborhoods and cost billions is missing.
"So who is ‘they'? The psychologist and psychiatrist of course. These were their crackpot remedies for crime. And it's wrecked a civilization.
"So what IS the cause of crime? The treatment of course! Electric shocks, behavior modification, abuse of the soul. These are the causes of crime. There would be no criminals at all if the psychs had not begun to oppress beings into vengeance against society.
"There is only one remedy for crime – get rid of the psychs! They are causing it."
Considering the status of psychiatry as the Church of Scientology's worst enemy it was no surprise when Hubbard announced on June 29th, 1971 that any upset of a person who had had Dianetics and Scientology auditing should be publicly blamed on past associations of this person with the medical and psychiatric profession [Exh. No. 262]. This policy was also enforced in order to discourage the psychiatric and medical profession to criticize Scientology.
All of the above policies are included in the training manual for the "Investigations Officer" of the "Office of Special Affairs" under the revealing heading "Depopularizing the enemy," which manifests again the above mentioned Hubbard's order from 1982 to "get rid of" the psychiatric profession [Exh. No. 93].
Hubbard declared its private war on psychiatry officially in December 1968. Subsequently the Church of Scientology went into action with various activities and operations, and began to flood during the upcoming years the general public and its own members with libelous allegations about psychiatry and its institutions as well as with announcements and threats to eradicate and destroy psychiatry [Exh. No. 263, Excerpt].
The primary medium to transport such message to the general public were Scientology's own periodicals, for example "Freedom Magazine," which was at first produced and published by the "Guardian's Office" and, after its demise, by the "Office of Special Affairs." Sometimes individual publications were created for broad public distribution. All mailings that were designed for the general public concentrated generally on scandals in connection with psychiatry while suggesting that it was a criminal activity from the start.
The publications that Scientology sent to its own public members stressed psychiatry scandals too, but also carried the message of Scientology's goal to destroy psychiatry and replace it with Scientology and Dianetics instead. The magazine that has been mostly used for this purpose is "Impact"-magazine, which is published by the "International Association of Scientologists Administration" (IASA), an organization, which is located aboard the ship Freewinds in the Caribbean and with a mailing address in Netherlands Antilles [Exh. No. 264].
The following documents exemplify how the Scientology management and its principal executives have carried out such activity in the United States through mailings that were either sent to the general public or its U. S. membership within the last twelve years.
October 1990 – During the annual event of the "International Association of Scientologists" (IAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, the then "Commanding Officer" of the "Office of Special Affairs International" (CO OSA International), Kurt Weiland, stated during a speech [Exh. No. 265, Excerpt]:
"We set out to eradicate the psychiatry suppression from society, so that truly LRH technology can instead be applied to improve conditions.
"Since January 1990 CCHR chapters have killed over 100 psychiatric appropriation bills across the US in 27 states. As part of this campaign in California the annual state budget for psychiatry was cut by over 71 million dollars. ...
"Psychiatrists have hailed a drug called Prozac as their new miracle drug. CCHR never believes what psychiatrists say. Therefore it sent out its investigators and found that a man on Prozac had killed 8 people and wounded 12 others in a shooting. We found numerous other people who had abused and harmed themselves and others after taking the drug. ...
"Not, through a different medium, psychiatry is again being exposed as unadulterated fraud, and psychiatrists as criminals without conscience."
June 5th, 1991 – Paid advertisement in U. S. newspaper "USA Today," published by CSI [Exh. No. 266]:
"What U. S. Drug Company Produced Heroin and LSD?
"Eli Lilly: Purveyor of dangerous drugs. ... "
June 7th, 1991 – Paid advertisement in U. S. newspaper "USA Today," published by CSI [Exh. No. 267]:
"What U. S. Drug Company Produced a Drug Named After Adolf Hitler?
"Eli Lilly: Purveyor of dangerous drugs. ... "
October 1991 – Annual IAS event in Copenhagen, Denmark. Heber Jentzsch, President "Church of Scientology International" (CSI) [Exh. No. 268, Excerpt]:
"It is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), with major support from the IAS, who is leading the way in eliminating psychiatric violations of human rights. Since the establishment of CCHR in 1969 this group has been the only group to confront the evil and destruction generated by psychiatry. ...
"Psychiatry's plan of world domination is rapidly disintegrating. LRH's technology is overpowering the forces of evil. We are creating a new civilization where inhuman psychiatric practices are rapidly becoming a thing of the past."
October 1992 – Annual IAS event aboard the "Freewinds." Heber Jentzsch, President CSI [Exh. No. 269, Excerpt]:
"IAS members working together as a team with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights are bringing about the end of a profession of white-coated suppressives: psychiatry. ...
"For a long time psychiatrists were able to deceive people into believing that they were well intentioned. This is no longer the case as dozens of criminal convictions of psychiatrists show. However psychiatrists not only commit crimes, they cause crimes. ... "
1992 – From the booklet "Psychiatry's Role in the Creation of Crime," published by CCHR [Exh. No. 270, Excerpt]:
"Psychiatry creates violence: John Hinkley Jr's assault on then President Reagan and three others on March 30th, 1981, has been linked to a common psychiatric drug capable of turning people into killers. Today, senseless and brutal acts, caused by ‘psychiatric' treatments plague communities everywhere."
1993 – From the booklet "Psychiatry's Multibillion-Dollar Fraud," published by CCHR [Exh. No. 271, Excerpt]:
"It has been extensively documented that psychiatry does produce increased drug addiction, moral decay, illiteracy and violent crime. ...
"Indeed, the problems with Americans' mental health can be summarized in one word: psychiatry. ...
"If we eliminated government funding of psychiatry, we would begin to see improvement in the areas of social travail described in this booklet. ...
"By sweeping away psychiatry and its costly, ineffective and destructive ‘treatments,' we can open the way for something actually be done about the problems which plague society."
May 1993 – From an interview with CO OSA International Kurt Weiland [Exh. No. 272, Excerpt]:
"... Realize, psychs would never engage in a direct confrontation with CCHR or the Church. They have blood dripping from their hands and they know they are a big fraud. ...
"We have exposed and intend to continue to expose and bring to a stop the psychiatric barbarities of brain operations, electric shock and forced drugging which are destroying people's minds. The abolition of these practices will be the death knell of psychiatry, because these practices and the government funds they get are indispensable to the coercive psychiatric industry. Without them, psychiatry is dead. ... "
December 1993 – From an editorial and an article of "Impact"-magazine [Exh. No. 273, Excerpt]:
"... Psychiatrists need to be outlawed, thus ridding the planet of their destructive influence. But we also need to replace them – with trained auditors who practice Scientology in all walks of life. ...
"THE PSYCHS ARE NEXT
"Following the end of the war with the IRS, we can now fully direct our considerable energies towards the next target what is possibly Mankind's last enemy – psychiatry. ...
"We have now proven that we can take on and overcome major areas of suppression on this planet. Let us now take on this one with the purpose to end this scourge, once and for all."
October 1994 – Annual IAS-event in Saint Hill, England. Heber Jentzsch, President CSI [Exh. No. 274, Excerpt]:
"... The fields of psychiatry and psychology are really used as tools of governments searching for technology on how to control a populace.
"It is no wonder then that the ‘discoveries' and ‘treatments' of these two fields are composed of torture, maiming or just plain mumbo-jumbo.
"The real product of the field of psychiatry is suppression and that is why we work to reform the field of mental health and eradicate the charlatan profession of psychiatry. ... "
October 1995 – Annual IAS-event in Copenhagen, Denmark. Heber Jentzsch, President CSI [Exh. No. 275, Excerpt]:
"In an article called ‘The Fight for Freedom' LRH wrote in 1969: ‘The Scientologists were the only road block on the psychiatric joy ride to degradation.' ...
"Right now we are ready to bring down an avalanche in the path of the psychs' joy ride and, I promise you, there is a big crash in their future. ...
"... It is my pleasure to present the new English edition of Psychiatrists – the Men behind Hitler. ...
"As the book conclusively proves, the men behind Hitler were psychiatrists – the justification for the murders was psychiatric in origin – and the real villains of the death camps and the euthanasia program escaped answering for their crimes. ... "
May 1996 - From an editorial and an article of "Impact"-magazine [Exh. No. 276, Excerpt]:
"... This is why we were able to set a goal of the magnitude of the eradication of the psychiatric crimes and abuses from this planet. It takes a strong and dedicated group to take on such an insidious and widespread influence, the source of suppression on the planet- psychiatry. ... "
"A WORLD FREE OF PSYCHIATRY
"A report on activities which are effectively eradicating the influence of psychiatry from this planet ... "
October 1996 – Annual IAS-event in Saint Hill, England. Michael Rinder, CO OSA International [Exh. No. 277, Excerpt]:
"In pursuit of a psych-free planet, we have embarked several major campaigns made possible through IAS support of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. ... "
October 1997 – Annual IAS-event in Saint Hill, England. Michael Rinder, CO OSA International [Exh. No. 278, Excerpt]:
"We've re-educated governments, we've hatted law enforcement and we are helping those authorities to root out psychs and bring them to justice. ...
"Victory against the ultimate suppression is now within our reach. We will attain it because we have the confront, and thus the ability to handle, the evil which is psychiatry."
1998 – From an information letter sent by CCHR to its U. S. mailing list [Exh. No. 279]:
" ... Right now, we have escalating suicide rates among teenagers. Five-year-olds have attempted suicide while on antidepressants. Suicide continues to be a major risk with Ritalin withdrawal – a key psych drug used on children.
"Psychiatry kills. We know this. As an extension of this, parity creates drugged communities and destroys futures: Economically, health-wise and spiritually. ... "
1998 – From the magazine "Planetary Dissemination News," published by the "Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc." [Exh. No. 280, Excerpt]:
"It is Time to Take Over the Field of Mental Health
"This planet is on the verge of a social decay. The use of prescription drugs has skyrocketed in recent years, with both doctors and psychs prescribing drugs for a growing array of bogus ‘mental illnesses'. ...
"Drugs and psychiatry continue to ruin this planet with a problem accelerating at a reckless rate. Over 2.4 billion dollars in Prozac alone.
"THIS WILL CHANGE with the Dianetics Campaign and by the year 2000 the watchword will be DIANETICS as the solution to any mental health problems. ...
"The purpose of the Dianetics Campaign, "DIANETICS 2000," is to establish Dianetics in the public mind, and by the year 2000, as THE technology of the human mind. ...
"To establish Dianetics auditing as the most popular profession for students and professionals who want to learn to help others for real, replacing psychiatry and psychology. ... "
April 16th, 1998 – From a fax sent to a Scientologist by CCHR [Exh. No. 281]:
"ALERT – NO ON SENATE BILL 268
"EMERGENCY – Get in comm with Senator Bankhead IMMEDIATELY!
"The Mental Health Parity Bill (would force insurance companies to pay for mental health coverage) is on again and once more we need to rise to the occasion and get this psych bill killed. ...
"Facts concerning the bill:
" ... The psychs run the lines that mental health parity will improve public health. This is of course a lie since by statistics, people get worse with their treatments. ... "
The result of such libelous campaigns was well documented after the Food and Drug Administration rejected in 1991 a petition from CCHR to remove the antidepressant Prozac from the market. The American "National Mental Health Association" stated in a letter from August 1991 [Exh. No. 282]:
"... Garrison (Director of NMHA) said that his organization had received calls from throughout the country from patients and health care providers expressing concern that CCHR's actions to have Prozac removed from the market had created unnecessary anxiety about an effective therapy and was driving patients away from medication. ... "
At the same time the "American Psychiatric Association wrote in an informing letter [Exh. No. 283]:
"The Food and Drug Administration has chosen science over sensationalism by rejecting the petition of the Scientology-backed Citizens Commission of Human Rights to remove the antidepressant medicine Prozac from the market. ...
"Our members have reported to us that the CCHR media campaign to discredit Prozac frightened many people with depression into discontinuing their medicine without first discussing it with their physicians, and discouraged others from seeking needed treatment."
On August 8th, "Eli Lilly," an U. S. pharmaceutical company that produced Prozac, declared [Exh. No. 284]:
"... From the start, the campaign against Prozac, of which the CCHR petition was a part, has been a dangerous deception. These attacks on the medical treatment of depression and the effect they have on patients are a major concern to members of the health care community associated with the treatment of mental illness. Scientology's dissemination of misinformation is a menace to the public health as it attempts to frighten patients away from appropriate medical care and safe effective medication. ... "