From:
Infinite ComplacencyTUESDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2009
The Court's Ruling
Here is a summary of the verdict and sentences in the Paris trial of Scientology. I have laid it out in the same style I used for What the Prosecution Wants to give you an idea of how far the court followed their recommendations.
Perhaps the most important feature of the judgement is what the court did not do: it made no ruling that would restrict the activities of either the Celebrity Centre or the SEL bookshop.
But the following individuals and organisations were convicted of organised fraud against some, but not all the alleged victims (of which more below):
The Association Spirituelle de l’Eglise de Scientologie CC (ASES), the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against the plaintiffs Aude-Claire Malton and Eric Aubry.
It was fined 400,000 euros and ordered to pay for the details of the conviction to be published in the major French and English-language news outlets including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, the Herald Tribune and Time Magazine.
Scientology’s network of bookshops Scientologie Espace Liberté (SEL) was also convicted of organised fraud against the Malton and Aubry. It was fined 200,000 euros and ordered to pay for the publication of the conviction in the same newspapers.
These were the sentences for the individual defendants charged on this count, against either Malton, Aubry or both plaintiffs:
Alain Rosenberg, the managing director of the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against Malton and Aubry; and of complicity in the illegal exercise of pharmacy. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence and a 30,000-euro fine;
Didier Michaux, the bookshop’s star salesman, was convicted of organised fraud against Eric Aubry – but cleared on the same charge relating to Aude-Claire Malton. He received an 18-month suspended sentence and a 20,000-euro fine;
Jean-François Valli, the other bookshop salesman, who also did work for the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against Aude-Claire Malton – but cleared on the same charge relating to Aubry. He received an 18-months suspended sentence and a 10,000-euro fine;
Sabine Jacquart, who was president of the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against both Malton and Aubry; and of complicity in the illegal exercise of pharmacy. She received a 10-month suspended sentence and a 5,000-euro fine;
Aline Fabre, who supervised the Purification Rundown at the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of the illegal exercise of pharmacy. She was fined 2,000 euros;
Marie Anne Pasturel, who acted as an intermediary for G&G in France, taking orders for the vitamins required for the Rundown, was convicted of the illegal exercise of pharmacy and fined 1,000 euros.
All the defendants charged in relation to Pierre Auffret and his company Parangon – the Celebrity Centre, the bookshop SEL, Rosenberg, Jacquart, Valli, Michaux – were acquitted.
The court took into account the fact that Auffret himself had not filed a complaint: and he had insisted to investigators that any payments he had made were made willingly.
Neither Alain Rosenberg nor Anne Marie Pasturel attended the hearing.
Despite the guilty verdict and the fines, Maître Patrick Maisonneuve for the Celebrity Centre and Maître Louis Pamponet for the bookshop SEL (I think it was him) both looked extremely relieved – presumably because there was no attempt by the court to restrict the activities of either organisation.
Paris, France (CNN) -- A French court on Tuesday convicted the Church of Scientology and six of its members of organized fraud, but stopped short of banning the church.
The court also fined the members as much as 400,000 euros ($595,000) each.
The decision follows a three-week trial in May and June, during which two plaintiffs said they were defrauded by the organization, which is classified as a sect in France.
The Church of Scientology has about 45,000 followers in France, and some of them were in court Tuesday.
The church had said before the verdict that it would appeal any judgment against it.
The judge at the Correctional Court in Paris said the church may continue its activities in France, but he said those activities must remain "on the correct side of the law."
As part of the penalties, the church was ordered to publish the results of the verdict in several national and international magazines to warn people, the judge said, about what Scientology offers and what was discovered at trial.
The plaintiffs focused their complaints on the use of a device that Scientologists say measures spiritual well-being. Members used the electropsychometer, or E-Meter, to "locate areas of spiritual duress or travail so they can be addressed and handled," according to Scientology's Web site.
The plaintiffs said that, after using the device, they were encouraged to pay for vitamins and books. They said that amounted to fraud.
Prosecutors had asked for the dissolution of the church and its Paris bookstore.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE59Q1HD20091027http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iB4zZrgJt9_M4ltYiwOwQxcAnMmQhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8327569.stmhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_scientologyhttp://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=1158http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33490266/ns/world_news-world_faith/http://abcnews.go.com/Business/scientology/wireStory?id=8923751
