Mysterious circumstances surrounding the process fuel the suspicion that France's Justice Ministry has been infiltrated

Paris, France
September 21, 1999
Frankfurter Rundschau

by Hans-Hagen Bremer (Paris)

In Marseille, a trial against members of the Scientology sect has begun. The seven accused, among them the former director of the local sect bureau in the southern French city and Nizza, Xavier D., have been charged with fraud.

It is the second time that members of the French organization of the U.S. American Scientology sect have had to answer in court. And like three years ago, when several activists of this organization were convicted of negligent death, fraud and extortion, this new trial, which has been opened after ten years of preparation before a Marseille criminal court, is taking place under peculiar circumstances: two weeks ago justice officials had to concede that a portion of the trial documents, including bookkeeping records, documents on sect members, brochures and books, had landed in a shredder a year ago.

Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou stated that a Justice Ministry employee had mistakenly turned the records over for destruction. The suspicion, however, that it could have involved a deliberate act of destruction, was not completely cleared up. Because that was not the first time that important documents on the sect, which has been described as "dangerous" in a French parliamentary report, have disappeared in a peculiar way. In 1996, for instance, the records of the investigative commission of the Enquete on sects in France turned up missing out of an armored vault at Palais Bourbon. The incident was made all the more serious because the hearings had been made behind closed doors in order to alleviate the fears of apostate sect members. A little later, material incriminating to Scientology was stolen from the Parisian Palace of Justice.

So it is not surprising that responsible politicians like the President of the Government Commission for the Defense against Sects, Alain Vivien, has expressed the suspicion lately, that the Justice Ministry could have been infiltrated by the Scientology sect. Their respect and their credibility is being put in question, fears Vice President of the National Assembly, Raymond Forni.

In the Marseille trial, the defense is exploiting this situation in favor of their clients. They stated that the Justice Ministry is suffering from an "infectious paranoia." Nevertheless, their application to suspend the process or postpone it until the records could be re-created was rejected by the court. That will be decided at the end of the transactions.

The seven accused, who are suspected of having relieved their victims of up to 150,000 franks (about 45,000 marks [$33,000]) apiece with a so-called "purification cure," will not be spared having to answer to the court for their actions. And the claimants will not lose the opportunity for reparation after such a long time. Of the ten victims who filed charges in 1989, only two are still there. The others have withdrawn their charges - "out of fear of reprisal," the state attorney believes.

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