A Paris court convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud and fined it more than euro600,000 ($900,000) on Tuesday but stopped short of banning the group as prosecutors had demanded.

 

The group's French branch immediately announced it would appeal the verdict.

 

The court convicted the Church of Scientology's French office, its library and six of its leaders of organized fraud. Investigators said the group pressured members into paying large sums of money for questionable financial gain and used "commercial harassment" against recruits.

 

The group was fined euro400,000 ($600,000) and the library euro200,000. Four of the leaders were given suspended sentences of between 10 months and two years. The other two were given fines of euro1,000 and euro2,000.

 

However, the court did not order the Church of Scientology to shut down, ruling that it would be likely to continue its activities anyway "outside any legal framework."

 

Prosecutors had urged that the group be dissolved in France and fined euro2 million ($3 million).

Prosecutors initially asked the court to order a ban on the movement's French operations.

 

But last month the court was alerted to a little-noticed legal change voted in by parliament in May, the month the trial began, which barred judges from dissolving an organisation convicted of fraud.

 

Although this rule change has since been dropped, it forced the court to downgrade its sentence in the Scientology case.

 

Scientology is generally considered by the French media as a cult; a parliamentary report classified Scientology as a dangerous cult.  

 

 History

 

Scientology was founded in 1952 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the United States.

 Legal status

In 1978, L. Ron Hubbard was convicted in absentia by French authorities of engaging in fraud, fined 35,000 French Francs and sentenced to four years in prison.    The head of the French Church of Scientology was convicted at the same trial and given a suspended one-year prison sentence.  

 

Since 1995, France has classified the Scientology as a sect (or cult) as seen in the report of the National Assembly of France.    On this basis, a hostile stance is generally taken against the organization.       A 1999 government inquiry committee reporting on the financial aspect of sects    recommended dissolving the Church of Scientology because of swindling, complicity of swindling, abuse of trust, and other nefarious activities. A government report in 2000 categorized the church as an "absolute sect" and recommended that all its activities be prohibited.    The keeping of files containing personal information on all its members (and other practices), are seen to qualify the Church as a totalitarian sect, moreover "extremely dangerous".    The report rejected U.S. criticism of the French government's hostility towards Scientology, saying that Washington's protection of sects was "exorbitant".  

 

In 2005 the city of Paris passed an official resolution so that unlike in Marseille, Tom Cruise would never be made an honorary citizen, specifically because of his affiliation with Scientology.   

 

The 2006 riots in France came in the midst of a parliamentary commission in charge of examining the influence of sects, particularly on youth, which started its hearings on July 12 2006 and was scheduled to be completed in December that year.     The government sects watchdog (MIVILUDES) subsequently warned that sects were infiltrating the suburbs, increasingly offering aid as a cover for their activities, notably so in a Church of Scientology's communique that "appeared to be taking the credit for calming the situation in one of the riot-hit suburbs."   

 

Against general public opinion and while he was Finance Minister, current president Sarkozy had received celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise in Paris in 2004. He is now preparing to change the 1905 law that defines status for the non-profit associations, still against the essential French concept of separation between state and church, which will allow sects to receive money from the state.   

 

On September 8, 2008 it was reported that Judge Jean-Christophe Hullin issued a ruling stating that Scientologists' Celebrity Center, bookstore, and seven Church leaders should be tried for fraud and "illegally practicing as pharmacists".     The ruling is in regards to a complaint made in 1998 by a woman who said she was enrolled into the Church of Scientology by a group she met outside a metro station. The woman said she paid 140,000 francs for illegally prescribed drugs, an e-meter, and books.         The trial was due to begin on 25 May 2009.     It was believed that if the French Scientology organization lost the case, it could end up being dissolved.             On 16 June 2009 current.com incorrectly reported that several of the church's leading members, including its leader Xavier Delamare, had been arrested and that the church had been banned from practicing in France. As it turned out, the website had actually been referencing an outdated BBC news article form November 1999.     In September 2009 it was reported that the French Scientology organization was no longer at risk of dissolution as a result of the fraud trial, due to a change in French legislation.         In October 2009, the Church of Scientology was convicted of fraud.     The judge ordered the Scientology Celebrity Center and bookshop to pay a 600,000 euro fine, but had to stop short of dissolving the Church of Scientology in France.     Several leading Scientologists were fined; the head of Scientology in France, Alain Rosenberg, received a two-year suspended jail sentence combined with a 30,000 euro fine.     A Scientology lawyer said the Church would appeal.   

 Adherents

 

The French government does not keep statistics on religion but in 1999 the Church itself claimed that it had 40,000 adherents in France.   

 Controversy

Several officials of the Church of Scientology have been convicted of crimes such as embezzlement.   

 

On November 22, 1996, the leader of the Lyons Church of Scientology, Jean-Jacques Mazier, was convicted of fraud and involuntary homicide and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for his role in the death of a member who committed suicide after going deeply into debt to pay for Scientology auditing sessions. Fourteen others were convicted of fraud as well.      As of 2009, members of the church are also being sued for fraud and practicing pharmacology without a license.   

 

In 2000 the Church was listed as a "dangerous cult" in a parliamentary report and a recommendation was made to dissolve the organisation.   

 

The Church of Scientology pursues an extensive public relations campaign for state recognition of Scientology as a religion and cites numerous scholarly sources supporting its position.    The level of recognition Scientology has been able to obtain varies significantly from country to country.

 

The Church of Scientology has been recognized as a religious denomination in its home country, the United States,       and has received full recognition in various other countries such as Italy,       South Africa,    Australia,    Sweden,    New Zealand,    Portugal     and Spain;     it thus enjoys and regularly cites the constitutional protection afforded in these nations to religious practice. Some countries, mostly in Europe, have regarded Scientology as a potentially dangerous cult, or at least have not considered local branches of the Church of Scientology to meet the legal criteria for being considered religion-supporting organizations.   

            Since 1995, France has classified the Scientology as a sect (or cult) as seen in the report of the National Assembly of France.     On this basis, a hostile stance is generally taken against the organization.