The Church of Scientology goes on trial in France

This week the Church of Scientology, with members as famous as actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, has gone on trial in France on charges of organized fraud. This church -registered as a religion in the United States was founded in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction writer- is not banned in France but has been considered a sect since 1995 and as such it does not enjoy a legal protection having in fact faced accusations of being a money-making cult. Already in 1997 some members were convicted of fraud in Lyon and in Marseille in 1999. Almost three years late, in 2002, a court fined it for violating privacy laws and indicating that it could be dissolved if involved in similar cases. Which is what seems it could happen now. This time is the church Paris headquarters and bookshop which are the defendants in the case. If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison and be fined €5 million ($7 million) as well as ordered to halt their activities in France. The charges are the manipulation of followers into handing over their savings with a woman claiming she was psychologically pressured into paying thousands of euros for lessons, books, drugs and an “electrometer”, which the church says can measure a person’s mental state. There are also claims of illegally prescribing drugs, which were filed by the country’s pharmaceutical association.