Victim's family give evidence in Scientology case
Family give evidence in Scientology case
While she was with the Church of Scientology, Ms Mary Johnston was
"like somebody playing a role in a pantomine", the High
Court was told yesterday. Mr Paul O'Kelly, brother-in-law of Ms
Johnston, said he found Ms Johnston was dealing with him in a
planned and structured way and there was no genuine effort to engage.
Mr O'Kelly, of Edenderry, Co Offaly, was giving evidence in the
continuing action by Dundalk-born Ms Johnston (40), now living in
Dublin, who later left the organisation. She is suing the Church of
Scientology Mission in Dublin, and three of its members for alleged
conspiracy, misrepresentation and breach of constitutional rights.
Yesterday, Ms Margaret O'Kelly, sister of Ms Johnston and wife of Paul
O'Kelly, said she and other members of her family made efforts in
early 1994 to get her sister to meet them to view material, newspaper
cuttings and videos about Scientology. Before she invited her sister
to the meeting, members of the family needed time to research
Scientology and to gather as much information as they could, Ms
O'Kelly said. They contacted Ms Johnston and arranged to meet in
Edenderry on May 2nd, 1994. Initially, Ms Johnston wanted to know why
and rang every day for two weeks to find out the name of a book they
had about Scientology and where they had got the information.
Ms O'Kelly said she and her mother arranged to meet Ms Johnston at 2
p.m. but she did not turn up until 6 p.m. Ms Johnston never apologised
for being late. They wanted her to make up her own mind when she saw
the information they had.
Ms O'Kelly said her sister was not relaxed and was very tense, with a
continuous grin on her face. She was under stress. She refused to read
any of the material they had. By 8 p.m., their mother was getting
upset because Ms Johnston could not bring herself to read the
material.
Ms O'Kelly said she had asked her mother to leave and she did. After
that, Ms O'Kelly said, she herself broke down and told Ms Johnston
they loved her and did not want her to disconnect from the family. Ms
Johnston then said she would read the material. They talked about
family matters and the tension was gone. The next morning, Ms Johnston
said there was a lot of questions to which she wanted answers.
Ms O'Kelly said her sister told her she was very frightened. Ms
Johnston had said there were things that Ms O'Kelly did not know about
her but which the Scientologists knew and that she was afraid they
might reveal them.
Mr Paul O'Kelly said he found that, over a time, Ms Johnston was
dealing with him in a very planned and structured way. He got the
feeling that every time she walked into a room, the conversation and
the nature of the discussions she was going to have was already
prepared. There was family concern about her.
The hearing, before Mr Justice Peart, continues today.
Source: Irish Times
Publication date: 2003-01-31
[Note: The
Scientology®
organization has at best estimate approximately
45,000 to 50,000 followers world wide -- contrary to the 8 million figure
that the organization has been claiming for the past few years or so.
While that number continues to drop (thanks in part to the Internet) few
of the remaining followers are even aware of the unending series of police
raids, indictments, and prison terms their leaders and fellow cultists are
subjected to routinely. Few are allowed to know about their organization's
criminal history, or its current racketeering activities. Even fewer of
the cult's remaining followers are privy to their messiah's written
policies which dictates the criminal behavior that keeps getting their
organization raided (see Xenu.NET for
suitable references of Scientology policy) Scientology management
is the problem, not the thousands of honest believers who are good,
honest citizens; themselves victims of Scientology - flr]
The name "Narconon"® is trademarked to the Scientology organization through one of their many front groups. The name "Scientology"® is also trademarked to the "Church" of Scientology. Neither this web page, nor this web site, nor any of the individuals mentioned herein assisting to educate the public about the dangers of the Narconon scam are members of or representitives of the Scientology organization.
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