Rev. Heber Jentzsch of the Church of Scientology

Question answered by Phobos1 in Scientology

FredricRice asked this question on 7/25/2000:

This is a question more for current Scientologists who may know more about it, however I'm curious whether the Reverend Heber Jentzsch will return willing to Madrid to stand trial, whether he's a possible extradiction case, or whether the Scientology cult's management will feed him to the wolves, risking that the Reverend will sing like a canary to the authorities.

So I've got a number of questions:

#1 Is the Reverend Heber Jentzsch going to willingly return to Spain to stand trial?

#2 If not, is he extradictable?

#3 If not, can bounty hunters be purchased to collect Mr. Jentzsch to return him to Spain to stand trial?

#4 And if he's found guilty in abstancia, does that mean that the good Reverend would need to hide out in the cult's armed and fortified compound in Gilman Springs, California, or would he be walking around out in the open?

Thanks.

Phobos1 gave this response on 7/27/2000:

I'm not a current Scientologist, so my answer will be of limited use to you, but here goes anyway.

1. Almost certainly not. Scientology doesn't want to be convicted of anything anywhere, but given what they're facing in Europe, they're likely to risk the conviction in absentia, since (a) they'd rather not have the embarassment of yet another high-ranking Scientologist doing prison time, and (b) they'll want to be able to portray Spain as a corrupt country that persecutes religious minorities. To have Heber actually go over to face trial would to implicitly acknowledge the legitimacy of the Spanish courts, and they want to be able to say they weren't given a fair trial.

2. Perhaps, but I doubt Spain really wants to go to the expense. They'd probably just rather keep the bail money.

3. I don't think this would be worth it, either, and it raises a whole lot of other legal problems. I'd prefer to see the authorities take the moral and legal high road here.

4. I expect it'd be business as usual, plus a whole lot more angry whining about persecution by Spanish kangaroo courts.

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