PAN HELLENIC PARENTS' UNION
for the protection of the Orthodox Culture
the Family and the IndividualAghia Paraskevi May 20th, 1999
PRESS RELEASE
THE TRIAL OF THE SCIENTOLOGY MISSION IN GREECE (K.E.F.E.)At the Court of Appeal of Athens on May 10th and 11th 1999 a trial took place against 15 leading members of the Scientology mission in Greece, who were accused for systematic surveillance and for keeping files of well-known, prominent people of the country.
Namely, the used surveillance was aiming at the collection of information which was classified in files against politicians, clergymen, bishops, judges, public prosecutors and journalists.
The Court, after a procedure that lasted two days, unanimously accepted that the accused had indeed committed the above mentioned acts, that these acts were illegal and constitute the offence of insult, i.e. violation of the Penal Code, article 361.
Consecutively, because no charges were filed by the victims within the three months deadline according to the law the criminal prosecution against the 15 members of the Scientology mission terminated.
The essence of the Court's decision is that the above acts were indeed committed by the leading members of the Scientology mission and that these acts have been judged as criminal acts, but just for procedural reasons, the Court could not impost the necessary penalties.
George A. Alevisopoulos Nikolaos J. Stavriandes President of the B.D. Secretary of the B.D.
Measures of the Bavarian State Administration against Scientology
Munich, Germany
judgment date: December 16, 1997
http://www.innenministerium.bayern.de/scientology/urteile/athen.htmAthens Superior State Court (Greece):
Dissolution of the Athens Scientology establishment of December 20, 1996 by the Athens State Court verified as in accordance with law
Decision of December 16, 1997 (Nr. 10.493/1997)
(excerpts)The superior state court included the following statements in its decision (excerpts):
On alleged religion status:
"In particular from the large amount of written correspondence ... it can be concluded that this [SO association] is not self-sufficient in the sense of independence and autonomy, but is a branch of an international organization with centers in Denmark (Copenhagen) and America (Los Angeles) by the name of "Scientology." This organization appears in certain states as a religion (Church of Scientology), but in Greece as KENDRO EFIRMOSMENIS FILOSOFIAS ELLADOS (KEFE) (Greek Center for Applied Philosophy). In order to enjoy the advantages of being acknowledged as a "religious denomination" (e.g., tax, currency and political privileges), and also to obtain constitutional protection, it appears under the guise of a religious movement, although its goals are of a different, primarily commercial nature."
On persecution of critics:
"According to the latter (Scientology) not only is anything moral and right which contributes to its expansion and the continuation of its theories, but also anything which does not oppose them. Any kind of reaction or any resistance against them is viewed as a source of potential trouble which needs to be "handled." In answer to any negative response to any of the theories of Scientology or the implementation of its goals, the "dead agent" politic is applied, in the sense of attack and undermining of reputation in order to break the resistance. Furthermore all members who leave the association for whatever reason are constantly called up on the telephone and harassed to effect their return, but on the other hand they are described as "enemies" who have "committed treason." This practice pursued by the appeal opponent which is the result of his own theory, not only nullifies any concept of basic rights in regard to the "free" expression of opinion, but does not participate in the constitutionally guaranteed basic right of personal association, which, it is noted, also contains the negative right in associations."
On the illegality of auditing and the Purification Rundown:
"Both procedures named above [auditing and the Purification Rundown] are completely voluntary and illegal; wherein the illegality consists of no preventive measures are taken for safety although the procedures conceal certain risks for the health of those being treated."
On the fundamental assessment of the Scientology association:
"Based on his version, which, out of necessity, excludes the possibility of any other version, is completely proved that the appeal opponent is an association with totalitarian structure and tendency which has contempt for people on principle, whereby it freely operates with the superficial goal of recruiting members who are then subjected to brainwashing, to all the above named procedures and theories with the goal of thought control, and also to break resistance (fundamental positions of the founder of Scientology), so that we finally are dealing with creatures without will who have lost their ability to make a decision based on free will, after they have gone through all the stages of Scientology's teachings. In view of these facts, the appeal opponent is not case legitimized in transgressing the rights of others or in invoking religious freedom, since he appears in his charter exclusively as a philosophical association, also for the free expression of opinion, because the protection which exists for those two constitutionally guaranteed rights is subject to the obvious limitation of non-restriction of the rights of others, e.g. on health, which is influenced by the appeal opponent's activity."
On the commercial character of the Scientology association:
"In addition to that, it can be concluded from the evidence submitted that the association under question has been practicing profit-oriented operations which require a permit for years."
Conclusion:
"In view of these facts and since it has been fully proved that on the one hand the purpose of the association in question has been turned from a non-profit oriented to a profit-oriented association, and on the other hand its activity is illegal, the court application is accepted and the matter is justified: the corporate association is to be dissolved. In doing that the court which held the first hearing committed no kind of procedural errors in coming to its decision."
Court judgment bans the psycho-sect in Greece
From: "Tages-Anzeiger"
January 22, 1997Scientology Under Pressure
Scientology continues to have difficulty. Hollywood stars who compare Chancellor Kohl with Goebbels see to the indignation. A court judgment now has banned Scientology in Greece.
Zurich. - The highest political circles have been involved with Scientology recently. The open letter from 34 Hollywood stars like Dustin Hoffman and Larry King, who compared Kohl's administration with the Nazi regime, brought forth strong reactions from American, French and German ministers and administration spokepeople on Tuesday. The actors wanted to show their support for the two prominent Scientologists Tom Cruise and John Travolta, whose films are being partly boycotted in Germany.
In Greece, an Athens Administrative Court passed a judgment which affects Scientology materially. It states that the psycho-sect is to be banned. The Scientologists were able to prevent the closing of the Athens Center by appealing for a postponement. The judge stated that the financial machinations of the commercial sect were not compatible with the public welfare. Scientology was said to be an organization with totalitarian structures and tendencies. Moreover, the members were said to be enslaved by brainwashing. Scientology described the judgment as totalitarian and fascistic. The Athens chief district attorney wants to hold the Greek Scientologists criminally accountable. He found incriminating material in the raid and is accusing them of activity which endangers the state. (sta.)
4,000 charges against 2 year old Scientology "religion" in Greece
1996
Dossiers from Athens
An explosive cache of documents proves the threat of the sect to state and society
Ursula Caberta found the beginning of this report from Greece to be halfway amusing. The Scientology Commissioner of the Hamburg administration is familiar with the deluded theories of the organization, so she was not surprised to hear that the psycho-business was planning the formation of a new state in southern Europe.
The disciples of sect founder L. Ron Hubbard had nothing less in mind than carving a new nation based on Scientology's teachings of salvation out of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia and the remains of Yugoslavia. They already had a name for it: "Bulgravia."
However, that's where the fun stopped. Among the documents found by the police in a raid of the premises of the Athens Scientology branch KEPHE (Greek Center for Applied Philosophy) were "Dead Agent Packs" - lists of measures against critics of the psycho-cult. The person most highly targeted was a priest, Antonios Alevizopolulos, sect commissioner of the Orthodox Church of Greece. For years the Hubbard disciples had sought out, in vain, faults committed by the 65 year old priest. They even inserted agents into his personal environment. The otherwise healthy priest died in spring of a heart failure.
According to Chief District Attorney Tassos Canellopoulos, there is "not yet proof" for a suspicion of physical force. However, the documents are proof enough of a "ruthless, immoral war of annihilation against critics, using all means."
More was discovered than just undercover surveillance records on select Scientology critics. In a meter thick volume of folders there was a list of about 2,500 names - politicians, captains of industry, celebrities, press people, and all sorts of people out of public life. Dossiers had been prepared on them. District attorney Canellopoulos stated, "The Scientologists also had used undercover and intelligence surveillance upon prospective targets; some politicians were being tailed round the clock." Because of this, the board members of KEPHE will have to answer before the court at the beginning of October. "They infiltrated state offices," said Canellopoulos, "we even found military information about the Air Force on them."
German Scientologists assert through their spokesperson, Gisela Hackenjos, "as always, there are none of the so-called black lists here." However, experts such as Caberta believe that inferences can be made about Germany from the find of documents "because there are no special, national differences in Scientology." From this she concludes "that such lists also exist in Germany." The instructions from the US sect headquarters, which are so strict as to be bizarre, are valid for all countries. This is also proved through internal Scientology correspondence between Athens and the USA.
The machinations of the Scientologists were stumbled across in the search for proof of "psychological force" against minors. Since its founding in 1983, KEPHE had recruited many children; a total of 4,000 parents had brought charges against the association in the course of the years. The investigators wrapped up in July and confiscated a number of shelf feet of documents.
Dimitrios Efstathiadis, Prefect of Athens, had decided upon the closing of the KEPHE center, but has since then repealed the verdict. He wants to postpone the process until early October, so that the closing of KEPHE will be decided upon along with the criminal aspects. Until then, young women are back luring passers-by in with invitations to a "personality test." A piquant point is that the candidate for the largest opposition party, New Democracy, is campaigning for election in the entrance to KEPHE on the weekends. Anna Psarouda Benaki is no unknown. From 1990 to '93 she was the Justice Minister of Greece, now she is again holding the same function in the shadow cabinet. Her campaign supporters have no problem with the Scientologists.
On the contrary: "This is a good address here," one of them said, "KEPHE is a respected association." It is hardly surprising that the thickest surveillance folders confiscated by the district attorney belong to those of Benaki's chief party opponent, party leader Militiades Evert.
German politicians have already reacted to the reports from Greece. Renate Rennebach, political sect spokesperson of the federal faction of the SPD, demanded that security officials immediately contact the Athens district attorney. This event is favorable to politicians such as the Stuttgart CDU Interior Minister Thomas Schaeuble, who is using the Constitutional Security agency on Scientology, or to Bavaria's CSU Interior Minister Guenther Beckstein, who has been thinking out loud about a ban of the psycho-cult for some time.
Axel Kintzinger
Charges
The Greek branch of Scientology is facing criminal and civil charges
2,500 people of public life in Greece were being spied upon by Scientology - against the law.
The ATHENS PREFECT is fighting to close the Scientology association, KEPHE.
MILITARY SECRETS, including some from the Greek Air Force, were confiscated from KEPHE.
© by FOCUS Magazin-Verlag GmbH, 1996
Scientologist plans of subversion
Athens State Police found black lists[Note: there was a problem in the original German language article (from Switzerland) in the the translation to German of the Scientology term "Dead Agent Pack." It came out "Death Package." The President of the Scientology Mission in Greece corrected that in a letter which follows this.]
From: "Tagesanzeiger Zurich"
October 5, 1996Highly charged proceedings against a Greek branch of the Scientology sect next week: the district attorney accused the organization of activities which endanger the state.
by Hugo Stamm
A raid from this past July on the Greek Center for Applied Philosophy (KEPHE) in Athens has produced some surprising documents to date. The Athens State Police found electronically stored personnel dossiers which contained several thousand, cataloged names. The confiscated documents proved, according to the District Attorney, that the data had been sent to the headquarters of the sect in the USA.
"War of Annihilation against Critics"
Besides politicians, clergymen and sect experts were also found on the black lists. According to the German magazine "Focus", the police had found the so-called "dead agent" packs, which allegedly contain measures to be taken against critics by the psycho-cult. The list also contained the name of the priest Antonios Alevizopoulos, Sect Commissioner of the Orthodox Church of Greece, who died unexpectedly in spring of this year of a heart failure.
Included in other measures, KEPHE was to have inserted agents into the personal environment of the priest. According to Chief District Attorney Tassos Canellopoulos, there is no proof at all that the death of the priest was connected with the Scientology list of names. However, according to "Focus" the confiscated documents are evidence of a "ruthless, immoral war of annihilation against critics, using all means."
According to a statement by the Chief District Attorney, the Greek Scientologists had infiltrated state offices. Moreover, the police found military information about the Air Force during the search of the building. The Scientology center was temporarily closed. So that prejudice will not be created in the proceedings beginning in the upcoming weeks against members of the sect, the center was re-opened ["the ban was lifted"]. The district attorney is now demanding a legally sanctioned closure.
"Scientologistan" was supposed to extend up to the Alps
The Athens State Police also found plans for the forceful creation of a sect state which was to have encompassed Greece, Bulgaria, a good portion of former Yugoslavia and Albania. The new Scientology state has received the name of "Bulgravia." On maps, a "Scientologistan" was also listed, which extended up to the Alps.
Creating a negative image
From: "Tagesanzeiger Zurich"
December 13, 1996Letter to the Editor
Re: "Scientologists plans of subversion" of October 5, 1996
I would like to correct the impression that was made in the article about Scientology in Greece. In the court case that was mentioned, that was a civil action which still remains open. The controversy about this case contains data that is false or perverted.
The Scientology Mission in Greece actually contained several documents about a few dozen people; the contents of the articles were limited to press articles. There were neither thousands of personnel files, nor was our Mission closed, as had been asserted in the article.
We name several collections of documents "Dead Agent Packs." These are placed at the disposal of the media or government offices in order to correct false claims about ourselves. These collections are called "Dead Agent Packs" because we have the view that an opponent who spreads information which turns out to be false should be "dead" as a reliable source of information. It is remarkable how this simple information is perverted in order to create a negative opinion.
In the article it was also emphasized that the Orthodox priest had died after a long-term bout with cancer; the Greek media reported that truthfully.
The only information about the Air Force is a note that states my brother is an airport guard.
The assertion that somebody here planned to found our own state was contrived, not to mention that this should happen by force. I am shocked that this would be published without the T[ages]A[nzeiger] having spoken with the association concerned.
In Greece, the Orthodox Church is the only state church, and no other religions are accepted by it. Even the Evangelical Church is seen here as a sect. The European Human Rights Commission has just recently passed a decision against Greece which castigated it for discrimination against a religious congregation. The discussion about Scientology can also be seen in this light.
CATHARINA DIAMANSDARA,
PRESIDENT OF THE SCIENTOLOGY KEPHE MISSION, GREECE
Brussels, October 1 (AFP) - The police have confiscated thousands of files on members of the Scientology organization in Belgium. As related by a speaker from the state attorney's office in Brussels on Friday, Scientology bookkeeping documents had been also been secured on the day previous to the search and seizure. According to the statement, no charges were immediately placed. Several suspects were interrogated and later released. At the request of the Belgian authorities, raids had also taken place in Paris. According to the Brussels state attorney's office, the confiscated documents contained confidential statements about members of the organization. This is the first time the Belgian justice department has proceeded against the sect on a large scale basis since it established residence in the country in 1974. Prior to this, a charge of fraud had been filed by a former Scientology adherent who had lost a portion of her fortune to Scientology. The Belgian newspaper "Le Soir" reported that at least five bank accounts had been opened in Luxemburg which had a connection to the Scientology organization. 90 million marks were said to have been deposited in one in 1993. This account had been divided into 15 sub-accounts, with names like "Tor" for Toronto, "Toky" for Tokyo, "Los" for Los Angeles and "Cura" for Curacao in the Dutch Antilles. This was said to be legal, however, it aroused the suspicion that Scientology had intended on concealing its worldwide financial structure, continued the newspaper. Belgium is "obligated" to also look into the finances of the sect via Luxemburg.
From:
http://www.kn-online.de/htm/aktuell/sh/c-scientology.htmProtest against Scientology Schools in Denmark
State administration and CDU criticize concession
"Kieler Nachrichten"
May 16, 1998Kiel (epd). The admission of two Scientology schools in Danish Nordschleswig has met with harsh criticism. The state administrations's sect commissioner, Hans-Peter Bartels, called the decision of the Danish Ministry of Educaion "annoying." The state administration has no influence with them, Bartels told the epd.
The CDU state faction also expressed criticism: the vote of the administration in Copenhagen is not reversible, said political representative Ursula Roper. For six years, 50 children have been receiving their education in Bjerndrup, near the German-Danish border. Most of them are children of Scientologists from Hamburg, who bring them there to be trained in the teachings of sect leader L. Ron Hubbard. Similar school projects have been forestalled on the German side in Seedorf and Hoisdorf..
A year ago the Hamburg school authorities tried levying fines to obtain the return of children who were supposed to be going to school in Hamburg. On that occasion, several more children registered a changed of address to other schools in Denmark. The children will grow up in a "pure Scientology colony," stated Bartels. Because of their membership in Scientology and their German citizenship, they are fully isolated in Denmark. The community has tried, without success, to impede the work of the schools. They were very surprized by the decision of the state administration. The sect is counter to the constitution and extremist. Bartels said, "Whoever wants to help the people who have fallen into the sect machine of Scientology may can not admit testimony which has been furnished by the sect itself."
Roper, the CDU politician, states that those kind of schools are forbidden in Germany. It would be especially bad if the schools openly pursue the goal of luring Germany children into the clutches of Scientology in Denmark. In the northernmost German states, Scientology has several hundred members. In Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommer and northern Lower Saxony, there is an estimated 3,500 members total.