« Église de scientologie de France » : différence entre les versions

L'Église de Scientologie en France est un groupe séculier organisé en associations à but non lucratif.^[1] Malgré sa dimension religieuse intrinsèque, l'Eglise de Scientologie en France est organisée ainsi et non en communauté religieuse, afin de bénéficier des avantages de la loi de 1901 plutôt que des contraintes de la loi de 1905 sur la séparation des Eglises et de l'Etat^[2]

Un rapport parlementaire de 1995 catégorise la Scientologie comme une secte,^[3][4] elle est donc sous la surveillance de la MIVILUDES et de ses prédécesseurs (Observatoire interministériel sur les sectes et interministérielle de lutte contre les sectes).^[5][6] Dans son rapport de 2006, la MIVILUDES qualifiait la Scientologie de "secte dangereuse".^[7]

En France, sept membres de haut rang de l'Eglise de Scientologie ont été condamnés, notamment pour fraude et incitation au suicide.^[8]

La Scientologie a été fondée en 1952 par l'auteur de science-fiction L. Ron Hubbard aux États-Unis, et s'est ensuite étendue à l'international. Aux Etats-Unis, la Scientologie est notamment connue pour avoir remporté une bataille juridique contre l'IRS, réputé être imbattable sur ce terrain, et pour avoir fait de Tom Cruise son membre le plus célèbre^[9].

En 1978, L. Ron. Hubbard a été condamné par contumace pour fraude, recevant une amende de trente-cinq mille francs et quatre ans de prison.^[10] Le directeur de l'Eglise de Scientologie en France a été condamné à un an de prison avec sursis lors du même procès.^[11]

Depuis 1995, certaines autorités ont qualifié la Scientologie de secte, comme il apparaît dans un rapport de l'Assemblée Nationale.^[12] De ce fait, l'Etat est de manière générale hostile à la Scientologie.^[13][14] En 1999, le rapport d'une commission gouvernementale d'enquête sur les agissements financiers des sectes^[15] a recommandé la dissolution de l'Eglise de Scientologie pour cause d'escroquerie, complicité d'escroquerie, abus de confiance et autres activités néfastes. Un rapport gouvernemental de 2000 l'a qualifiée de "secte absolue" et a recommandé la prohibition de l'ensemble de ses activités.^[16] La possession par l'Eglise de la Scientologie de dossiers complets sur chacun de ses membres est vue comme le signe qu'il s'agit d'une secte totalitaire et "extrêmement dangereuse".^[17] Le rapport a également rejeté les critiques venant des Etats-Unis sur l'hostilité gouvernementale envers la Scientologie, en déclarant que la protection dont elle disposait là-bas était "excessive".^[17]

En 2005 le Conseil de Paris a pris une résolution disposant que, contrairement à ce qui s'était produit à Marseille, Tom Cruise ne puisse pas être fait citoyen d'honneur de la ville, en raison de son appartenance à la Scientologie.^[18]

A la suite des Émeutes de 2005 dans les banlieues françaises, la MIVILUDES a averti que les sectes infiltraient de plus en plus puissamment les banlieues, se servant de l'aide qu'elles y apportent comme d'une couverture pour leurs activités répréhensibles. Cet avertissement pointait du doigt un communiqué de l'Eglise de Scientologie qui "semble s'attribuer le crédit du retour au calme dans une des banlieues en émeute"^[19].

Lorsqu'il était Ministre de l'Economie, Nicolas Sarkozy a reçu Tom Cruise à Paris en 2004, ce qui a donné lieu à des rumeurs selon lesquelles le ministre préparait une modification de la loi de 1905, qui permettrait à la Scientologie d'être considérée comme une organisation religieuse tout en recevant de l'argent de l'Etat. ^[20]

Le 22 Novembre 1996, le chef de file de l'Eglise de Scientologie de Lyon, Jean-Jacques Mazier, à 18 mois de prisons pour fraude et homicide involontaire, en raison de son rôle dans le suicide d'un membre s'étant lourdement endetté afin de payer les sessions de formation de l'Eglise de Scientologie. Quatorze autres membres furent également condamnés.^[21]

Kaja Bordevich Ballo, une Norvégienne étudiant à Nice, s'est suicidé le 28 Mars 2008, quelques heures après avoir obtenu un résultat négatif à un Test de personnalité de la Scientologie.^[22] Les procureurs ont conclu en Décembre de la même année qu'ils n'étaient pas en mesure d'établir un lien entre la Scientologie et ce suicide au-delà de tout doute raisonnable.^[23] La famille n'a pas porté plainte, mais l'affaire a tout de même connu un certain écho médiatique en France comme en Norvège.^[24]

On September 8, 2008, Judge Jean-Christophe Hullin ruled that Scientologists' Celebrity Center, bookstore, and seven Church leaders should be tried for fraud and "illegally practicing as pharmacists".^[25] 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.^[25][26] The trial was due to begin on 25 May 2009.^[27] It was believed that if the French Scientology organization lost the case, it could end up being dissolved.^[27][28][29] 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 from November 1999.^[30] 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 very opportune and unexplained change in French legislation.^[31][32] That legislation change has since been reversed.

Modèle:Wikinews

On 27 October 2009, the Church of Scientology was convicted of defrauding recruits out of their savings.^[33][34] One woman claimed she lost more than €20,000 in the 1990s.^[34] Judges ordered the Scientology Celebrity Center and bookshop to pay a €600,000 (US$888,000) fine; earlier plans by the prosecution to force the Church to disband completely could not proceed. The law supporting complete dissolution was temporarily inadmissible, due to a rework of the penal code.^[33] The dissolution law was not reinstated until after the case had begun, and therefore could not be used.^[35] Judges also stated that disbanding the church would push it underground, where it could not be monitored.^[33] In his indictment, investigating Judge Jean-Christophe Hullin criticized what he called the Scientologists' "obsession" with financial gain and practices he said were aimed at plunging members into a "state of subjection".^[36]

Seven leading Scientologists were fined, including the head of Scientology in France, Alain Rosenberg. Rosenberg received a two-year suspended jail sentence combined with a €30,000 fine.^[33] Four of the leaders received suspended sentences ranging from ten months to two years, while the other two were fined minor amounts.^[37] Agnès Bron, a church spokesperson, likened the fines to, "an Inquisition for modern times".^[37] According to Catherine Picard, head of the French Association of Victims of Cults, the fining might encourage more "unhappy Scientologist recruits" to bring out their concerns.^[33] She also stated that, "Scientology can no longer hide behind freedom of conscience."^[37]

The Scientology Celebrity Center spokesman, Éric Roux, stated that, "There is an attitude toward religious minorities in general ... that is pretty catastrophic". In relation to the government's official cult monitoring mission (agency) MIVILUDES, Roux claimed that "we have a government that pushes for hate against religious minorities". However, what he and others contested was "the fraud that is committed against families and individuals".^[35]

The Church of Scientology stated that they would appeal,^[33] with U.S. Church spokesman Tommy Davis claim the proceedings as being a "heresy trial"^[35] and claims that "the fines will get thrown out on appeal. We've had similar cases before and in other countries. If it has to go to the court of human rights we're confident we will win there".^[34] Davis claims that the proceedings were "in total violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and French constitutional guarantees on freedom".^[34] According to his view, "France is pretty much in the Dark Ages on the subject of religious tolerance ... We'll prevail as we have repeatedly in situations approximating this one".^[35]

Agnes Bron, a French official for the organisation, stated that "For each person who complains we have 100,000 ready to say nothing but good things about scientology."^[38] A Rolling Stone article from 2009 reported that Scientology has about 100,000 to 200,000 adherents worldwide.

Judges also said that they would ensure a paid posting would be placed in multiple publications outside France (including Time magazine and the International Herald Tribune) to ensure the news would spread beyond France; according to Olivier Morice, a lawyer for the civil plaintiffs, "The court told the Scientologists, in essence, to be very, very careful, because if you continue to use the same methods of harassment, you won't escape next time".^[33] Morice added that, "It’s the first time in France that the entity of the Church of Scientology is condemned for fraud as an organized gang".^[37] Georges Fenech, the head of MIVILUDES, said that the court "condemned [the French branch of Scientology] as an entity ... due to its fraudulent way of operating ... [If] they begin swindling again, they can be subject to dissolution in the future".^[35] Fenech added that, "[this] is a historical turning point for the fight against cult abuses", and that, while members are "allowed to continue their activity ... a seed has been planted".^[35]

In an interview on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs radio program The Current with Hana Gartner, former high-ranking Scientology official Mark Rathbun commented that the decision to convict the Church of Scientology of fraud in France would not have a significant impact on the organization.^[39] "On the France thing I don't think that's going to have any lasting impact, simply because they got a nine hundred thousand dollar fine I think - which is like chump change to them. They've got literally nearly a billion dollars set aside in a war chest," said Rathbun.^[39]

As of 2009, members of the church are also being sued for fraud and practicing pharmacology without a license.^[40]

The French government does not keep statistics on religion but in 1999 the Church itself claimed that it had 40,000 adherents in France.^[41] The French newspaper Le Figaro reckons around 5000 adherents in France in 2008.^[1]

The relationship between the Church of Scientology and the law in France is the subject of Is Scientology Above the Law? The documentary investigates the suspicious circumstances surrounding a fraud probe into sixteen members of the church of Scientology. The role of the church is questioned in connection with the disappearance of files critical to the case; lawyers for the prosecution argue that the missing evidence was deliberately taken by members of Scientology working within and effectively undermining the legal system to protect the reputation of the church.^[42]

• Scientology status by country
• Notable Scientology court cases
• Religion in France

L’argument 1 (valeur 2) n’existe pas dans le modèle appelé

Modèle:Wikinews

• Church of Scientology International (French) Modèle:In lang

Modèle:Scientology