On 2 Oct 1999 05:50:56 GMT, in alt.religion.scientology you wrote:

Diane Richardson <referen@bway.net> wrote...

This is an expanded version of the earlier Agence France Presse story:

"Piltdown Man" <piltdown@newsguy.com.NOSPAM>

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Diane Richardson <referen@bway.net> wrote...

"It is an attempt at intimidation, because Mr. Weightman called last week for the dissolution of France's interministerial mission to combat cults," said Scientology spokeswoman Anne Lelievre.

"Piltdown Man" <piltdown@newsguy.com.NOSPAM>

These people truly are amazing. Because Weightman said something about the situation in France a week ago, the *Belgian* authorities suddenly decided to stage a huge coordinated series of raids, as part of a fraud investigation that had been going on for over two years. Right...

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Diane Richardson <referen@bway.net> wrote...

"The files on Scientology members are not simply membership contracts," said Colpin. "They contain highly personal information. So the investigation could be expanded to include violation of privacy laws."

"Piltdown Man" <piltdown@newsguy.com.NOSPAM>

From the description Mr. Colpin gave on TV of the files in question, I can only assume that he's talking about PC folders. Apparently they've seized several thousands of those, which in my estimation can only mean they've now got every single PC folder held by the CoS Brussels.

Knowing Scientology, I'd hazard a guess that they haven't complied with the very strict rules of Belgium's privacy law which came into effect in 1992, and which among other things requires everyone who keeps on file private information on people to file a detailed description of the kind of information being kept with a central government registry. In fact, keeping PC folders seem like just the kind of hoarding of sensitive personal information that this law was meant to combat. I don't think anybody has been prosecuted under this law yet.

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Diane Richardson <referen@bway.net> wrote...

Among the Belgian premises searched Thursday, in

Brussels, Malines, Leuven, and Heidonck, were the current and former headquarters of the church, and a variety of groups and businesses, including the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, U-Man Belgium, Valgo International Consult, PR Consult, Impact Consulting, Delta, and Advance Consulting.

"Piltdown Man" <piltdown@newsguy.com.NOSPAM>

Here's one amusing tidbit to be added: because the cult was in the middle of the move from their old digs, most of the stuff at the new location was still conveniently boxed up, making things that much easier for the police.

I also saw them take away lots of black and metal carrying cases, sort of like the ones photographers use. Could these be e-meters in their cases? Are there pictures online anywhere of an e-meter in its case so I can check this hunch? (I think they've basically seized everything that was lying around. I saw one officer walk down the street with an inkjet printer under his arm, which seems like a rather odd thing to take away to me.)

Media reports here are also saying that because of the huge amounts of paperwork seized (several tonnes), it will take weeks or months to reach any significant conclusions and decide on further steps. Of course, Scientology spokespeople are trying to spin the fact that nobody has been formally charged or arrested so far as "proof" that they've done nothing wrong.

Another thing that has been noticed by several news outlets is that Scientology used accounts with the Kredietbank Luxembourg (another fact I knew years ago, thanks to ARS). That bank (the Luxembourg subsidiary of one of the biggest Belgian banks) is at the center of a huge multi-billion tax-evasion scandal right now.