The operator of the web site most well-known throughout the world for for resisting efforts of Scientology lawyers to shut it down will receive the 4th Leipzig human rights award May 18, 2003. Andreas Heldal-Lund has run the Operation Clambake site for over six years. During that time, not only has he been the first stop for many seeking critical information on Scientology, his efforts to do so have occasionally landed him in the news.
Last year, for instance, Scientology lawyers invoked the new "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" to have the Google search engine remove Operation Clambake from its base index. In dealing with this relatively new problem, the popular search engine found a way not only to keep most links to the Operation Clambake intact, but to direct searchers to its missing links at chillingeffects.org. The resulting publicity more than made up for Scientology's systematic attempts to suppress criticism of itself on the Internet.
The information at Operation Clambake itself has not proven as big an obstacle to the followers of Ron Hubbard as Heldal-Lund's approach to public debate. The Norwegian freethinker operates on the principle that people have a right to know what to expect from any organization prior to signing over increasing sums of money.
The Leipzig Human Rights Award is presented by a citizens committee composed of Europeans and Americans of diverse beliefs. It supports "human rights" by publicly recognizing individuals who capably exercise freedoms of speech, of opinion and of conscience. It also supports "religious freedom in the USA" by presenting its award who have used theses freedoms to increase the freedoms of others in dealing with the "totalitarian" US-based Scientology organization.
http://www.leipzig-award.org - click on - English - 2003 - Award Winner.
May 3, 2003
Joe Cisar
http://cisar.org
Suggested background sites:
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03929.html, look for post by Dave Touretzky, Subject: latest Scientology snow job
"The Clam FAQ", http://www.xenu.net/clam_faq.html
To add your name to the "Tabula Gratulatoria" to congratulate Andreas
Heldal-Lund:
http://www.leipzig-award.org/englisch/congrats-2003.htm