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USA: La scientologie voulait empêcher un avocat de faire son travail ! (St Petersburg Times de Floride - 4.9.2010) USA: Federal judge suspends state judgment against lawyer in dispute with Scientology (tampabay.com- Sept 4, 10) USA: Lawyer in Scientology case is stuck between state and federal judges (tampabay.com- September 1, 2010) France: La Cour de cassation valide un non-lieu en faveur de l'Eglise de Scientologie (tempsreel.nouvelobs.com - 4 avril 2010) USA: Deux plaintes dévoilent les rouages de Sea Org, le navire amiral de la Scientologie (tempsreel.nouvelobs.com - 4 avril 2010) USA: Harcèlement d'une victime par l'Église scientologie et non respect de la loi sur les fichiers (14 Novembre 2005) |
La scientologie voulait empêcher un avocat de faire son travail ! Federal judge suspends state judgment against lawyer in dispute with Scientology
Résumé Me Ken Dandar est un avocat qui connaît particulièrement la secte pour l'avoir attaquée dans l'affaire de la mort suspecte de Lisa McPherson devant les tribunaux de Floride. Un procès qui s'est résolu avec un accord entre les parties et le versement d'une indemnité à la famille de la victime. Une partie du cet accord consistait à ce que Me Dandar ne puisse plus jamais représenter un plaignant opposé à la scientologie. Mais Me Dandar ayant repris un client dans une autre affaire de décès suspect en lien avec la scientologie les tribunaux jugèrent, malgré les appels et même, malgré le recours devant la Cour Suprème de l'état de Floride, que Me Dandar violait un accord antérieur. Me Dandar a accepté finalement de se retirer de la défense de ce nouveau cas mais on vient d'apprendre que le juge qui a traité l'affaire en question, le Juge Steven Merryday, a refusé qu'il soit révoqué au prétexte que "personne d'autre n'acceptait de défendre le cas contre la scientologie."
TAMPA — Scientology's most vocal local critic, Ken Dandar, faced disaster. A circuit judge had found him in contempt of court this week and assessed a judgment of $130,000 — to be paid to the Church of Scientology. Dandar might lose his car. He might even lose his law license. All of that, he told a federal judge Friday, because Dandar isn't bowing out of a federal case against the church. But the judge may have given Dandar a reprieve. And U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday warned Scientology's attorney that he wouldn't allow what he called "shenanigans" to interfere any further with the progress of the case against the church now pending in his court. "I don't like being put in this position," Merryday told the church's attorney, Robert Potter. "When people start to squeeze, other people can squeeze back." Merryday got Potter and Dandar to agree to stop all proceedings in state court — including the church collecting the $130,000 judgment — until both sides can present Merryday with full briefings and oral arguments. However, Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach, who found Dandar in contempt and levied the $130,000 judgment, said he isn't sure such an agreement can really halt what he's done. In fact, Beach said, he believes only a state appeals court could overturn his decision, not a federal judge. "If I'm wrong, then the Second District Court of Appeal will tell me," the 80-year-old Beach said in a phone interview. Dandar's dilemma began six years ago, when he settled a wrongful death case against the church on behalf of the family of Lisa McPherson, who died in 1995 after 17 days in the care of church members in Clearwater. Last year, Dandar took on another wrongful-death case against the church's Flag Service Organization, as well as the twin sister of the church's worldwide leader, David Miscavige. The church's attorneys contended that violated the terms of the McPherson settlement. Dandar strongly disagreed, but Beach ruled that Dandar, as part of the settlement, agreed never to take another case against the church. So Beach ordered him to withdraw from the new suit. Four months ago, Dandar filed a motion to withdraw. But he attached an affidavit from his client contending he should stay on her case because no other lawyer would take on Scientology. So, on April 12, Merryday told him he can't get out of the new case without another attorney lined up. Two days later, Beach found Dandar in contempt. "Mr. Dandar is being punished because of my order," Merryday said Friday. Dandar should have filed a motion saying he had a conflict of interest and had to withdraw, Potter said. As a result, Beach ruled that Dandar hadn't made a good-faith effort. "He is not at liberty to deceive me," Merryday told Potter. "Judge Beach better not tell him to deceive me." Potter said the state judge was not trying to intrude on the federal court's jurisdiction, but Merryday told him, "It certainly feels like I'm being interfered with." Potter later admitted, "Believe me, he's not happy with you, either." Potter said he had expected Merryday to grant Dandar's motion and then terminate the lawsuit unless Dandar's client found a new lawyer. But Merryday said he couldn't do that. Merryday questioned whether the settlement really blocked Dandar from pursuing the wrongful-death case, which involves a 20-year-old who killed himself after his father, a Scientologist, locked away his antidepressants. "I've read it, Mr. Potter, and I think not," Merryday said, then glared at the church's attorney and snapped, "Don't look at me with that look of unbelief, Mr. Potter." Potter mumbled an apology. Merryday questioned why Beach conducted his contempt hearing on Dandar behind closed doors. At the church's request, Beach has sealed every document in the case. Documents sent to the Second District Court of Appeal and the Florida Supreme Court aren't public either. Potter said he felt squeamish about even talking about Dandar's case in open court. But Merryday refused to close his courtroom doors to the public. "I'm not going to be entering any seals unless I see a lawful reason, and I can't even see the beginning of a reason," the judge said. He said he wouldn't be swayed by "some circuit judge somewhere who appears for all I can tell to have sealed something for some unknown reason." By Craig Pittman and Curtis Krueger, Times staff writers
LARGO — One of the Church of Scientology's most vocal critics, Tampa lawyer Ken Dandar, is in a pickle. Six years ago, he settled a wrongful death case against the church on behalf of the family of Lisa McPherson, who died in 1995 after 17 days in the care of church members in Clearwater. Part of the settlement agreement, approved by a judge in state court, required Dandar to never again represent anyone suing Scientology. But last year, Dandar took on another wrongful death case against the church's Flag Service Organization — in federal court. The church's attorneys objected that Dandar violated his agreement. Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach agreed and in June 2009 ordered Dandar to withdraw from the new case. Dandar resisted for some time, even asking the Florida Supreme Court to review the case. Finally, though, four months ago Dandar filed a motion to withdraw from the federal lawsuit. But on April 12, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday told him he cannot get out of it. The reason: No other attorney wants to take on Scientology. Two days later, records show, Beach found Dandar in willful contempt of court. So Dandar is stuck between a state judge telling him to leave Scientology alone and a federal judge telling him he can't. And, according to federal court records, he has been fined $50,000 plus $1,000 a day by the state court until he withdraws from the federal case. Dandar's predicament may be unprecedented in Florida law. "I've never heard of anything like it," said Clifford Higby, chairman of the trial lawyers' section of the Florida Bar. A hearing on Dandar's fate occurred Tuesday in the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center. But at the request of church attorney F. Wallace Pope, Beach ordered a Times reporter out of the courtroom prior to the start of the proceeding. Dandar objected, saying he was facing a criminal charge — contempt of court. But Beach, 80, said it wasn't a criminal case. He also said he was closing the courtroom because all the previous proceedings regarding Dandar had been closed-door sessions. Since the McPherson case settled under a confidential agreement signed in 2004, all the motions and testimony in the case files — which now number 351 volumes, making it the largest current Pinellas case — have been sealed from public view as well. The hearing concluded after nearly six hours. Dandar and his attorney, Luke Lirot, both said they could not comment on what happened or their next step. Pope, when asked about the case, said, "Our lips are sealed." Dandar became known for challenging the church during the seven-year lawsuit over the death of McPherson, a Scientologist who after a minor traffic accident, took off her clothes and told a paramedic, "I need help. I need to talk to someone." Although paramedics took her to Morton Plant Hospital for psychiatric evaluation, fellow church members showed up and escorted her out, promising to care for her. The church opposes psychiatric treatment. They took McPherson to the Fort Harrison Hotel, where she was cared for by several church staffers, including a medical doctor who was not licensed in Florida but worked for the church. She died 17 days later while being driven to a hospital 45 minutes away. Although criminal charges were filed against the church, they were dropped after then-medical Examiner Joan Wood changed her finding of the cause of death to accidental. However, the burden of proof in a civil suit is different. The suit, filed in 1997 on behalf of McPherson's estate, contended church staff members let McPherson become severely dehydrated and die. As the case neared trial it promised unflattering international headlines for the church. The two sides worked out a settlement agreement. The terms weren't disclosed. Lirot, who was Dandar's co-counsel, said at the time, "Everyone involved gets to move on with their lives." Five years later, though, Dandar was back battling Scientology in the federal lawsuit. The new suit stems from the death of Kyle T. Brennan, 20, who shot himself in the head on Feb. 16, 2007, in Clearwater, while visiting his father, who is a Scientologist. According to the suit, filed on behalf of Brennan's mother, Brennan killed himself after the father locked up his antidepressant medication on the advice of Denise Gentile and her husband, Gerald. Denise Gentile is the twin sister of the church's current worldwide leader, David Miscavige. The suit says they served as the father's "chaplains" in the church, an allegation the church's attorneys say is not true. The Gentiles told Clearwater police that Brennan's father was just their handyman. The church's attorneys contend Dandar is a "rogue attorney" with "a long history of misconduct with regard to facts, law and ethics." District Judge Merryday, in ruling that Dandar had to stay on the Brennan case, cited a sworn statement from Dandar's client, Brennan's mother, Victoria Britton. She said that nobody but Dandar dared to take on Scientology. "I talked to many lawyers in different states and each turned me down as soon as they heard it involved the Church of Scientology," she said. "Some turned me down due to conflict, since some had represented Scientology in the past or are currently representing the organization, but many turned me down because it is an entity they do not want to litigate against. … I have no one else to turn to." Robert Potter, law partner of church attorney Pope, argued that the statement just showed how weak her case against the church was. Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. |
PARIS (AP) — La Cour de cassation a validé l'arrêt de non-lieu en faveur de membres de l'Eglise de Scientologie mis en examen pour "escroquerie" et "exercice illégal de la médecine", a-t-on appris, mardi de source judiciaire. La cour a suivi le 30 mars la chambre de l'instruction de la cour d'appel de Paris qui avait déclaré irrecevable en mars 2009 l'appel interjeté par une association de victimes, l'UNADFI, dans ce dossier ouvert en 1989. Une information judiciaire avait été ouverte en 1989 après la plainte déposée par un étudiant, décédé depuis, Juan Esteban Cordero. Ce dernier accusait l'Eglise de Scientologie de "conditionnement mental progressif", l'ayant contraint à débourser 171.879 dollars et 47.391 FF. D'autres plaignants l'avaient suivi dans cette démarche. La chambre de l'instruction de la cour d'appel de Paris était saisie par l'UNADFI. Cette dernière avait fait appel de l'ordonnance de non-lieu rendue en octobre 2007 par le juge Jean-Christophe Hullin qui estimait qu'il n'y avait pas de charges suffisantes en matière d'escroquerie contre les mis en examen. Dans un communiqué, la porte-parole de l'Eglise de Scientologie, Danièle Gounord, estime que "cette victoire judiciaire va permettre à l'Eglise de Scientologie de continuer avec sérénité son expansion en France". Dans une autre affaire, le tribunal correctionnel de Paris a condamné en octobre dernier l'association spirituelle de l'Eglise de Scientologie-Celebrity Center à une amende de 400.000 euros et la librairie scientologue SEL à 200.000 euros pour "escroquerie en bande organisée". Mais le tribunal n'a pas demandé l'arrêt de l'activité car celle-ci "risquerait de se poursuivre en dehors de tout cadre légal". Un jugement dont la Scientologie a fait appel. AP nvm/ir |
SAN JACINTO, Californie (AP) — Golden Era Productions, une propriété fermée de 200 hectares, à environ 150km de Los Angeles. Ici, environ 400 de membres de Sea Organization, le sommet de la hiérarchie de la Scientologie, travaillent nuit et jour quasi-bénévolement pour diffuser les préceptes du fondateur de la secte, Ron Hubbard. Une structure paramilitaire dont le fonctionnement opaque est révélé par la plainte de deux anciens adeptes aux Etats-Unis. Les plaignants sont Marc Headley et son épouse Claire, échappés en 2005 après plusieurs années d'asservisse- ment. Ils demandent des arriérés de salaire qui pourraient au total atteindre 1 million de dollars chacun (740.000 euros). Ils affirment avoir été traités en esclaves, contraints de travailler jusqu'à 100 heures par semaine sans véritable rémunération, et menacés de travaux forcés en cas de contestation. L'Eglise de scientologie a déjà été poursuivie par d'anciens membres. Mais les experts jugent cette double plainte diffé- rente, car elle est la première à exploiter le droit du travail pour remettre en cause le statut d'ordre religieux dont se prévaut l'organisation de Ron Hubbard. Une dénomination qui lui permet de traiter ses membres comme des moines, et donc de les faire travailler sans rémunération ni durée hebdomadaire légale. L'affaire doit être jugée en novembre à Los Angeles. Une victoire des plaignants "toucherait certainement au coeur la Scientologie, qui s'auto-définit comme une religion", explique Gordon Melton, directeur de l'Institut d'études des religions américaines, et auteur d'un ouvrage sur la Scientologie. "S'ils venaient à gagner et que les membres de Sea Org décidaient qu'ils veulent de l'argent, cela ne conduirait peut-être pas à l'effondrement (de l'organisation, NDLR), mais causerait beaucoup de dégâts". Marc Headley, 36 ans, fils de scientologues, a rejoint Sea Org à 16 ans, et est entré à Golden Era Productions, situé dans la localité de Hemet, en 1989. Comme les quelque 5.000 autres membres de Sea Org dans le monde, il a signé un contrat le liant pour un milliard d'années à l'organisation et renoncé à tout salaire minimum. Les membres de Sea Org espèrent grimper dans la hiérarchie de la Scientologie en étudiant les préceptes de son fondateur et en se soumettant à des "auditions" lors desquelles sont utilisés des "e-mètres", appareils censés détecter leurs traumatismes mentaux. Le but: éliminer toute énergie négative de leur vie passée pour atteindre le niveau de "clair" et, enfin, devenir des "thétans opérants", ces hiérarques de la Scientologie à l'esprit totalement pur. Marc Headley travaillait à confection d'enregistrements sonores et vidéo des enseignements de Ron Hubbard utilisés partout dans le monde par les scientologues pour recruter de nouveaux adeptes. Au total, il dit avoir gagné 29.000 dollars (21.000 euros) en 15 ans, soit l'équivalent de 160 dollars (118 euros) par mois. Dans un entretien téléphonique à l'Associated Press, il a raconté son quotidien à Hemet: horaires de travail interminables, surveillance 24 heures sur 24, appels trois fois par jour pour éviter toute évasion, censure du courrier, projecteurs allumés en permanence sur la propriété... En 2005, il a finalement pu s'enfuir, à moto et au prix d'un accident de la circulation, avec 200 dollars (moins de 150 euros) en poche. Sa femme Linda l'a imité deux semaines plus tard, faussant compagnie, lors d'une visite chez le médecin, à son "jumeau", un autre membre censé surveiller chaque adepte au cours des rares excursions autorisées. La Scientologie nie tout abus et fait visiter Golden Era Productions, un site qui comprend des dortoirs, un parcours de golf, un grand lac, et d'innombrables chemins. Ses membres sont, selon elle, nourris et logés, reçoivent des soins, une indem- nité de 50 dollars (37 euros) par semaine, bénéficient de trois semaines de vacances annuelles en échange de leur dévotion à vie. Et savent où ils mettent les pieds. "Quand vous rejoignez Sea Org, vous vous engagez dans un ordre religieux", souligne Jessica Feschbach, porte-parole de la Scientologie et membre de Sea Org depuis 16 ans. "Vous êtes bénévole. Vous signez un contrat qui dit 'je ne recevrai pas de salaire minimum et je le sais'." Mais "la Scientologie ne reculera devant rien pour faire taire ses opposants", affirme pour sa part Marc Headley, qui vit aujourd'hui avec sa femme et leurs deux enfants à Burbank, en Californie. "Espérons que l'on pourra arrêter ça pour que personne n'ait à souffrir comme moi." AP jp/v/st |
L'avocat de cette victime a demandé il y a plusieurs années que cesse tout harcèlement à son encontre de la part de la scientologie. Actuellement, il est impossible de connaître les informations détenues dans les fichiers de la scientologie ! Belle opacité...
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| Exposing Scientology through streaming video
Ces reportages vidéo dénoncent les dangers de la thérapie de scientologie. La scientologie est une nébuleuse sur laquelle ont enquêté de nombreux journalistes. Il suffit de répondre une fois à un questionnaire pour recevoir des prospectus et des invitations. Au départ elle peut même paraître séduisante mais très rapidement les premières dérives apparaissent. |
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