Religious communities line up for newly restored recognition

The Brussels Times
December 18, 2020

Around 50 to 100 local religious communities in Flanders have applied for recognition by the Flemish government, minister Bart Somers said today.

Somers, minister for social affairs, was a guest on the weekly VRT politics programme De zevende dag, to discuss the bill he presented this week to re-open applications for recognition.

The procedure was suspended in 2017 by Liesbeth Homans, who was then Flemish minister for home affairs, and who complained that the applications coming in rarely included sufficient information to allow a decision to be made.

Belgium recognises six religions: Catholicism, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Judaism, Islam and Orthodoxy. Recognition means the religion is eligible for government subsidy, which Buddhism, for example, is not.

The recognition of local religious communities within those six faiths is the responsibility of the regional government. In total, the region has 1,713 recognised communities – churches, mosques, synagogues and so on – of which 1,603 are Roman Catholic churches, including five cathedrals.

“In recent years, no religious communities were being recognised in Flanders, and case files were no longer being processed,” Somers said earlier this week.

“Local faith communities no longer knew where they stood. With the new recognition framework, we will provide legal certainty and clarify what we expect from the local faith communities.”

Under Somers’ new proposal, the procedure for recognition will be opened up again, with several new conditions. Among them, a ban on foreign financing, or interference in the work of the community by foreign powers, as well as a probation period of four years.

“Local faith communities are a vital ally in the fight against segregation,” he said. “It is important that they are independent of foreign funding or state interference.”

Asked today about concerns at the possible rise of new radical mosques, Somers said the new rules would protect against such a thing.

“Whether we like it or not, Islam is a reality in Flanders. We have to live with that. The more we do, the less chance we give to extremism.”

Between 50 and 100 requests from local communities are currently in his department’s in-tray, he said, dating back to the Homans moratorium in 2017. The list includes mosques as well as other religious communities, including Orthodox.

Alan Hope
The Brussels Times

https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/art-culture/140851/religious-communities-line-up-for-newly-restored-recognition-bart-somers-liesbeth-homans-buddhism-atholicism-protestantism-anglicanism-judaism-islam-orthodoxy-churches-mosques-synagogues-extremism/

Belgium probes alleged killing in right-wing cult

Business Recorder

January 10, 2020

Belgian authorities have opened an investigation into the 2011 death of a member of a cult led by the manager.

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the the state prosecutor in the southern Belgian city of Namur confirmed the investigation.

 

BRUSSELS: Belgian authorities have opened an investigation into the 2011 death of a member of a cult led by the manager of a girl band with links to the French far right.

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the the state prosecutor in the southern Belgian city of Namur confirmed the investigation to AFP after it was revealed in the French news magazine L'Obs.

"A judicial investigation is indeed under way for the murder carried out by individual 'X' of a woman who was part of a sect," Charlotte Fosseur said.

"No-one has been charged at this point," she added, refusing to give any more information.

According to the report in L'Obs, "a member of Joel LaBruyere's sect" who had been suffering from an inoperable cancer died in a remote cabin in Belgium's southern forests in October 2011.

The magazine cites a former cult member as saying the victim had been suffocated by two female fellow acolytes to end her suffering.

Joel LaBruyere is a 71-year-old Frenchman who is known to the official French cult-monitoring agency Miviludes, which told AFP in 2018 that he wields "mental control" over his followers.

He is also known as the manager of girl band "Les Brigandes", which has appeared in a music video with French far-right figurehead Jean-Marie Le Pen and recently released "One more time with Donnie" in praise of US President Donald Trump.

The Brigandes' website describes them as "involved in the anti-globalist counterculture"

It says LaBruyere founded an association in 1996 to oppose France's "witch hunt against everything unconventional in politics, religion and therapy."

https://www.brecorder.com/2020/01/10/560408/belgium-probes-alleged-killing-in-right-wing-cult/amp/

Beleaguered Molenbeek struggles to fend off jihadist recruitersImpoverished immigrant slum in Belgium’s capital

Brussels has become a focal point for those seeking to turn disaffected youth to jihad

ALIX RIJCKAERT
Times of Israel
April 3, 2016

Brussels 

BRUSSELS (AFP) – In Molenbeek, the rundown Brussels neighborhood with the unenviable reputation as a haven for jihadists, residents are struggling to confront the threat of radicalism as recruiters increasingly go underground to prey on the area’s youngsters.

Molenbeek catapulted to global attention after it emerged the district had been home to several of the Islamic State attackers who took part in last November’s Paris terror assaults, which killed 130 people.

The unflattering spotlight fueled criticism that Belgian authorities had closed their eyes to the problems gripping the impoverished, immigrant-heavy area, leaving its discontented youth vulnerable to jihadist recruiters.

Efforts to recruit were brazen until about two years ago, with long-bearded extremists openly calling for jihad in the streets or outside mosques, until the authorities cracked down and made some high-profile arrests.

Since then recruiters have switched tactics, approaching youngsters more discreetly and taking their messages online.

Belgium, with a population of 11 million, is per capita Europe’s biggest supplier of foreign jihadists to Syria, with more than 500 citizens leaving since 2011.

Sometimes the recruiters stand on street corners hoping to engage Molenbeek residents in conversations in which they try to tap into frustrations about lack of opportunities or perceived injustices, locals say.

Sofian, 18, who is looking for work as a security guard, said he himself has never been targeted by recruiters but several of his friends have been approached on the street, in parks and in the apartment hallways where groups of youngsters sometimes hang out.

“At first, you think ‘oh, these guys are just like us and could be cool,’ but then you realize they have pretty extreme ideas,” he told AFP. “They say: ‘Come with us to Syria, your life here is shitty,'” he said.

“And online it’s the same thing, they’re not hiding, with pictures on Facebook or messages or the videos they share.”

Olivier Vanderhaeghen, a social worker tasked with preventing radicalization in Molenbeek, says the local demographic facilitates recruitment.

“There is a sizable Arab-Muslim community experiencing any number of difficulties,” with 40 percent of Molenbeek residents under 25 unemployed, allowing recruiters to “play a little on the youth’s sense of hopelessness,” says Vanderhaeghen.

Recruitment goes underground

When undercover police “come here to try to track (potential trouble-makers) they themselves are spotted in 30 minutes” by residents.

“It’s very difficult to shadow them — and the recruiters know it.”

Police stand guard near a scene of a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. (AFP/BELGA/Dirk Waem)

But Vanderhaeghen says radicals are finding it “increasingly hard to recruit” in an area whose reputation now goes before it.

Sarah Turine, deputy mayor for Molenbeek with responsibility for youth affairs, said however that “a more underground, hidden form of recruitment” has emerged.

Turine points out that various attackers behind the Paris and last week’s Brussels attacks had never actually traveled to Syria. What they do have in common is a long list of convictions for minor crime and time spent behind bars.

Such was the case of brothers Brahim and Salah Abdeslam, both from Molenbeek.

Brahim Abdeslam blew himself up outside a bar, wounding one person, in the November 13 Paris attacks. Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in that operation, was arrested in Molenbeek on March 18, just meters from his family home.

“The lesson to be drawn from the attacks is that Daesh (IS) is mobilizing criminal networks who are not necessarily linked ideologically or who have gone to Syria … who accept participating in organizing attacks here,” says Turine.

Jail link

Often in the case of young radicals “we find it is in jail, in Belgium, where they have clustered and turned to radicalism, becoming a true danger to society,” says Vanderhaeghen.

Social workers are battling to break the cycle of social rupture that leads to radicalism, whereby a vulnerable youth will drop out of school, quit his soccer club and then withdraw altogether from his social sphere, having first questioned not just family authority but also their approach to Islam.

“It is the most fragile, the weakest spirits, who get drawn in,” says Sofian, who grew up in a largely Moroccan area of Molenbeek.

One youth, Anis, felt a void in life which prompted his departure for Syria aged just 18.

He didn’t return, killed in a February 2015 bombing raid on IS positions.

Geraldine Henneghien, his mother, is a stalwart with a Molenbeek parents’ association founded by families who have seen a child head to Syria.

“We simply must work with young people and tell them very clearly what their place is in Belgian society — and stop saying they are the product of immigration,” says Geraldine.

Local youth and police on horseback gather in the street of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean in Brussels, on April 2, 2016. (Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga/AFP)

http://www.timesofisrael.com/beleaguered-molenbeek-struggles-to-fend-off-jihadist-recruiters/

All charges against Scientology dismissed in Belgium in landmark decision

On March 11, 2016 the Justice Court of Brussels, in one of the most important decisions ever in the matter of "cults", rejected all charges against the Church of Scientology after an investigation and a series of trials that lasted for 18 years. The prosecution had asked the court to dissolve the Church in Belgium and forbid all its activities in the country. The judge concluded that what the government and the prosecutor tried to do was to censor a creed under the disguise of prosecuting deeds. "We cannot exclude, the judge said, that these ideas may represent a danger, but the business of the courts is confined to deeds" and cannot extend to creeds nor outlaw a "religious philosophy".

The judge added that he felt "disturbed" by what he perceived as a biased investigation.

The total collapse of the prosecutor's (and the government's) thesis represents a major blow for the anti-cult movement and policies in Europe.

http://www.cesnur.org/2016/scientology_bruxelles.htm

Scientology: Belgium court acquits church of organised crime charges

ABC Online
March 11, 2016

A Belgian court acquitted the Church of Scientology of charges of forming a criminal organisation, and dismissed demands that it should close its Belgian branch and European headquarters.

The church's Belgian branch, its European headquarters and a number of church members were accused by prosecutors of forming a criminal organisation over alleged fraud, unlawful medical practice, extortion and invasion of privacy.

They had called for it to be disbanded, along with prison terms for the members on trial.

However, presiding judge Yves Regimont dismissed all the charges against the church, which said it had been unfairly hounded for years by Belgian authorities.

"The entire proceedings are declared inadmissible for a serious and irremediable breach of the right to a fair trial," the judge said.

The judge criticised the investigators for what he said was prejudice, and prosecutors for being vague in their case against the religion.

"This was a religious case and nothing else," Pascal Vanderveeren, lawyer for the church, told reporters after the ruling.

"If you've said that you've said it all."

The Belgian trial began in October 2015 after nearly 20 years of investigations.

This included grouping together complaints from former members who sought to reclaim money from the church and the Brussels labour department, which said the scientologists had posted false job offers in the hope of finding new recruits.

Security was particularly tight for the verdict, with a heavy police presence and frisking of the public on entry to the courtroom, after demonstrators had threatened to disturb the sitting.

Scientology has fought a series of legal battles across the world to have itself recognised as a religion.

The church is championed by superstar members, such as Hollywood actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, but is divisive, with critics saying it as a cult and a scam, while supporters say it offers much-needed spiritual support in a fast-changing world.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-12/belgium-court-acquits-scientology-of-charges/7241800

Scientology criminal enterprise case thrown out by Belgian judge

Investigators and prosecutors criticised after trial of 11 members of church and two affiliated bodies that could have led to ban

The Guardian
Agence France Presse in Brussels
March 11, 2016

 

A court in Brussels has thrown out charges that could have seen Church of Scientology banned as a “criminal enterprise” in Belgium, after a judge said the defendants were targeted because of their religion.

Eleven members of the celebrity-backed, US-based church and two affiliated bodies had been charged with fraud, extortion, the illegal practice of medicine, running a criminal enterprise and violating the right to privacy.

“The entire proceedings are declared inadmissible for a serious and irremediable breach of the right to a fair trial,” the presiding judge, Yves Regimont, said on Friday.

He criticised the investigators involved in an 18-year inquiry into Scientology in Belgium for what he said was prejudice, and prosecutors for being vague in their case against the religion.

“The defendants were prosecuted primarily because they were Scientologists,” Regimont added.

The case was the subject of a seven-week trial that ended last December.

“It’s a relief,” Scientology’s spokesman in Belgium, Eric Roux, told reporters outside the court. “When you have had 20 years of your life under a pressure that you know is unfair, where one attacks your beliefs and not something you have done, the day when the court says it officially, it’s a big relief,.”

Defence lawyer Pascal Vanderveeren denounced the case as careless and prejudiced, adding that it was aimed at “attacking Scientology and not those who are part of it”.

Marie Abadi, a former Scientology member who has become a strong opponent of it, said she expected an appeal, adding: “We are evidently very disappointed. Either the facts are too old, or not precise enough. We are certain the prosecutor will appeal because things must budge.”

Championed by famous members such as Hollywood actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology stirs up sharp divisions. Critics decry it as a cult and a scam, while supporters say it offers much-needed spiritual support in a fast-changing world.

Prosecutors had asked for the court to completely dissolve the Belgian branch of Scientology and the affiliated European Bureau for Human Rights, and for them to face a fine.

The defence team said the charges were nothing more than an attempt to blacken Scientology’s reputation.

The Belgian authorities launched a first investigation in 1997 after several former members complained about the church’s practices.

A second investigation followed in 2008 when an employment agency charged that the church had made bogus job offers so as to draw in and recruit new members.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard. It is recognised as a religion in the US and in other countries such as Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, and claims a worldwide membership of 12 million.

But it has come under repeated scrutiny by authorities in several European countries, particularly in Germany. Several German regions have considered banning Scientology, while Berlin initially banned the cast of the Cruise Nazi-era movie Valkyrie from filming at historical locations but later relented.

A court in Spain in 2007 annulled a decision by the Spanish justice ministry to sremove it from the country’s register of officially recognised religions.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/11/scientology-criminal-enterprise-case-thrown-out-belgian-judge

Judgments in Belgian Scientology process expected

March 1, 2016

In the first nationwide Scientology process in Belgium today, the judgments are expected. The defendants include two Scientology organizations and eleven leaders of the religious community in Belgium.

In the first nationwide Scientology process in Belgium today, the judgments are expected. The defendants include two Scientology organizations and eleven leaders of the religious community in Belgium.

In the first nationwide Scientology process in Belgium today, the judgments are expected. The defendants include two Scientology organizations and eleven leaders of the religious community in Belgium. The prosecution accuses them, among other things fraud, extortion, illegal medical practices and disregard for privacy.

If the organization is actually classified as a criminal, Scientology threatened in Belgium banning. The process in Brussels began last October after years of investigation by the Belgian public prosecutor.

Brussels (AFP)

http://www.donaukurier.de/nachrichten/topnews/Belgien-Scientologie-Prozess-Justiz-Kriminalitaet-Urteile-im-belgischen-Scientology-Prozess-erwartet;art154776,3192560

Belgian Scientologists deny fraud, extorsion charges

Peninsula On-line
December 11, 2015

Brussels: A courtroom in Belgium heard final arguments on Friday in the trial of the Belgian branch of the controversial Church of Scientology over fraud and extortion allegations it vehemently denies.

Eleven members of the church and two affiliated bodies have been charged with fraud, extortion, running a criminal organisation and violating the right to privacy.

Lawyers said the verdict, which could see the Scientology church banned in Belgium, would land early next year, most likely in February.

In closing the seven-week trial, Scientology's defence team said the charges were nothing more than an attempt to blacken its reputation.

"You can't explain an investigation this long and of such relentlessness against people who were only trying to peacefully practice their religion in Belgium," Eric Roux, the spokesman for the group in Brussels told AFP.

The Belgian authorities launched a first investigation in 1997 after several former members complained about its practices.

A second probe followed in 2008 when an employment agency charged that the church had made bogus job offers so as to draw in and recruit new members.

Federal prosecutor Christophe Caliman asked the court earlier in the trial to completely dissolve the Belgian branch of the Church of Scientology and for it to face a fine.

He did not ask for its assets to be confiscated, leaving that to the judge's discretion.

Championed by superstar members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology stirs sharp divisions -- critics decry it as a cult and a scam, while supporters say it offers much-needed spiritual support in a fast-changing world.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

It is recognised as a religion in the United States and in other countries such as Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, and claims a worldwide membership of 12 million.

AFP



http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/international/361763/belgian-scientologists-deny-fraud-extorsion-charges

Scientology lawyers threatened with death

BRUSSELS Pascal Vanderveeren, a defense lawyer in the trial against Scientology for the Brussels Criminal Court, has this afternoon at the beginning of the meeting reported an anonymous letter in which he and his colleagues with the death threatened. The authors of the letter say they are victims of Scientology.


The lawyers consider to lodge a complaint with civil party in. The letter was added to the file. "It is not the ordinary prose against Scientology," said the presiding judge, Yves RÉGIMONT. A lawyer for the defense signaled to the president that her client was insulted in front of the courthouse and the soldiers who stood nearby, had to intervene.

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&langpair=auto%7Cen&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&tbb=1&u=http://m.hln.be/hln/m/nl/957/Binnenland/article/detail/2508809/2015/10/30/Scientology-advocaten-met-dood-bedreigd.dhtml&usg=ALkJrhhedQKwwXXDdnT9GlhBhyZmDGK4DA

Scientology Belgium trial sets off with vitamins, personal files and purification saunas

Umberto Bacchi
International Business Times UK
October 27, 2015

 

Followers and former members of Scientology appeared before a Belgian court, as the church is facing a possible ban from the country on a series of charges including fraud, extortion and illegal practice of medicine. Judges in Brussels heard about the church's financing and rituals on the first two days of the trial that opened earlier in October at the end of an 18-year investigation.

A defendant said worshippers paid up to €2,000 (£1,440, $2,200) for a 10-day "purification programme" they believed helped them become a better person. "It involves sauna sessions, plenty of sleep, running, healthy eating and taking supplements," the man, who chaired the Scientology's Belgian branch in the early 2000s, told the court, La Libre newspaper reported.

The vitamin supplements were in particular the focus of allegations church members illegally provided medical treatments without the necessary qualifications. Purification programme attendees were given a package of vitamins by another defendant who told the court she prescribed them according to the writings of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard and "her own readings".

"I had read that vitamins themselves are never a problem. It's when they are badly balanced that issues may arise," she told the court according to 7sur7 news website. She denied her activity was consistent with practising medicine.

The hearings revealed the church kept files detailing sanctions imposed on its adepts for minor breaches such as delays and discourtesy. A bonus system was also in place, which, according to presiding judge Yves Régimont, considered reporting deficiencies of fellow Scientologists to church authorities a good deed.

The proceedings took a bizarre twist when the former chairman, identified only as Vincent G, won a reprimand from the judge for telling the court he received orders from Hubbard, who died in 1986. "You received your orders from the afterlife, then," the judge said. "We speak French here, not scientologist," the judge snapped later at an evasive reply, La Dernière Heure reported.

Earlier, the congregation's former treasurer said Scientology Belgium made about €5,000 a week from book sales and classes. The woman said 9.5% of all income went to the mother church in Los Angeles, while 3% was transferred to the European head office in Copenhagen, according to Le Soir newspaper.

A total of 11 church members and former members as well as two church bodies are on trial on a series of allegations, including running a criminal organisation and violating privacy. Scientology Belgium denied the charges and, in a statement, accused authorities of abuses during the investigation.

The case came as actress Leah Remini, a former Scientology member, spoke out against the church and its most known follower, actor Tom Cruise in an interview with ABC. "Being critical of Tom Cruise is being critical of Scientology itself," she said. "As time goes on, you start to lose touch with the real world. The mindset becomes 'Us against them'," she said of what critics describe as a cult.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/scientology-belgium-trial-sets-off-vitamins-personal-files-purification-saunas-1525990

Belgian Scientologists in 'no doubt' of beating fraud charges

AFP | Brussels
October 23, 2015

The Belgian branch of the controversial Church of Scientology said today it had "no doubt" it would be cleared of fraud and extortion charges when it goes to court next week in a case that could see it banned in Belgium. 

Championed by superstar members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology stirs sharp divisions -- critics decry it as a cult and a scam, while supporters say it offers much-needed spiritual support in a fast-changing world. 

"The Church of Scientology goes to court with the firm intention of seeing the fundamental rights of its Belgian members finally recognised," it said in a statement. 

"Not only does the Church contest the charges against it, which affect the fundamental rights of all Scientologists, it also intends to denounce the serious judicial abuses (against it) of the past 18 years," it said. 

The charges are similar to others over the years, such as in France where Scientology is considered a cult and was fined thousands of euros (dollars) for taking advantage of vulnerable followers. 

In Belgium, it faces an outright ban if the case, which opens Monday in Brussels, ends with a conviction on charges of fraud, extortion, running a criminal organisation and violating the right to privacy. 

The Belgian authorities launched a first investigation in 1997 after several former members complained about its practices. 

A second followed in 2008 when an employment agency charged that the church had made bogus job offers so as to draw in and recruit new members. 

"Scientologists have no doubt the court will do its work with integrity and understanding so that, just as in Italy and Spain where we have been the object of the same campaign of accusations and false revelations, their good faith will be recognised," church spokesman Eric Roux said in the statement. 

Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. 

It is recognised as a religion in the United States and in other countries such as Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, and claims a worldwide membership of 12 million.

http://wap.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/belgian-scientologists-in-no-doubt-of-beating-fraud-charges-115102301140_1.html

SCIENTOLOGY DENOUNCES BELGIAN FRAUD TRIAL

Jonny Jacobsen
BYLINE
October 24, 2015

Brussels' Palais de Justice

Scientology has come out fighting days ahead of its trial in Belgium on charges of fraud and extortion, denouncing what it says has been years of judicial harassment

Scientology has denounced what it says is years of judicial harassment against it in Belgium, just days ahead of its trial there on charges of fraud, extortion and criminal association.

The Church of Scientology in Belgium said in a statement that the case amounted to religious discrimination and vowed to fight it every step of the way.

Two Scientology organisations and at least 11 senior members go on trial in Brussels on Monday, when Belgian prosecutors will accuse Scientology of being a criminal organisation.

A statement Friday from the Belgian Church of Scientology said: “Not only does the Church deny the charges alleged against it – which affect the most basic rights of all Scientologists – but it intends to denounce the serious abuses that have marked these 18 years of judicial harassment.”

The trial, at Brussels' Palais de Justice, arises from two separate cases that were eventually merged. But it has only come to trial after a legal battle lasting 18 years.

The first affair dates back to 1997, when the authorities opened an investigation into possible fraud and breach of trust after former members filed complaints against the movement.

Police raided Scientology offices in Brussels on September 30, 1999, as French officers carried out a similar operation in Paris at the request of the Belgian authorities.

In 2007, prosecutors brought charges against several individuals and two Scientology organisations: the Church of Scientology in Belgium and its European Office for Public Affairs and Human Rights. Both are registered as non-profit associations.

But the case got tied up in procedural wrangling at Belgium's Chambre de Conseil, which decides whether or not there is enough evidence to bring the case to court.

The second investigation was launched after Actiris, the Brussels regional employment office, filed a complaint in 2008 alleging that Scientology had used fake job ads to try to recruit members.

On April 11, 2008, police raided Scientology's Brussels offices in Uccle, a suburb of the Belgian capital, seizing hundreds of documents.

The charges going to trial include allegations of fraud; extortion; criminal organisation; forgery and the use of false documents; violation of privacy; and the illegal practice of medicine.

This last charge concerns Scientology's Purification Rundown, a cure it administers, which some medical professionals have criticised as potentially dangerous.

The programme, devised by Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, combines aerobic exercise and long sessions in a sauna with the consumption of high doses of minerals and vitamins.

Trial is "incomprehensible and unacceptable": Scientology

Over the years, Scientology's lawyers have filed a series of legal challenges to the way the investigation has been conducted.

In 2007, the Church of Scientology in Belgium argued in court that prosecutors' public statements on the affair had not respected the presumption of innocence, prejudicing any future trial. When the Belgian courts rejected their arguments in 2008, they went to the European Court of Human Rights.

In September 2013, the Strasbourg court ruled that their bid was premature because they could not say their trial had been prejudiced before the event. A court statement also said that Scientology had relied too heavily on press reports of prosecutors' statements, adding: “...it was highly possible that those articles did not accurately reflect the nuances of the remarks in question”.

Scientology tried to stop the prosecution on a variety of procedural grounds. But on December 10, 2014, Belgium's top court, the Cour de Cassation, rejected their arguments, clearing the way for a trial.

In a statement Friday, Scientology spokesman Eric Roux said it was “incomprehensible and unacceptable” that Belgium's Scientology community was being subjected to such discriminatory treatment “when they only aspire to one thing: to practise their faith freely and peacefully.

“Scientologists have no doubt that the court will do its job with integrity and foresight so that, just as in Italy or in Spain, where we have been the target of the same campaign of accusations that proved to be false, their good faith is recognised as the lies told about them disappear in the light of the truth.

“Scientologists in Belgium form a community of honest citizens, workers, contributing to Belgian society, and want to see their right to freedom of conscience and religion and non-discrimination respected,” he added.

The trial is scheduled to run over 13 court dates up to November 27, before judges at the 69th chambre du tribunal correctionnel de Bruxelles.

If either of the Scientology organisations is found guilty, it would be first time the movement had been convicted in Belgium.

In 2009, a Paris court fined two Scientology organisations hundreds of thousands of euros for organised fraud.

France's highest court confirmed the convictions in 2013 and in 2014 the European Court of Human Rights rejected a bid by Scientology to challenge them there.

https://www.byline.com/project/28/article/517

Belgian Scientologists in 'no doubt' of beating fraud charges

Business Standard
AFP | Brussels

October 23, 2015

The Belgian branch of the controversial Church of Scientology said today it had "no doubt" it would be cleared of fraud and extortion charges when it goes to court next week in a case that could see it banned in Belgium.

Championed by superstar members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology stirs sharp divisions -- critics decry it as a cult and a scam, while supporters say it offers much-needed spiritual support in a fast-changing world.

"The Church of Scientology goes to court with the firm intention of seeing the fundamental rights of its Belgian members finally recognised," it said in a statement.

"Not only does the Church contest the charges against it, which affect the fundamental rights of all Scientologists, it also intends to denounce the serious judicial abuses (against it) of the past 18 years," it said.

The charges are similar to others over the years, such as in France where Scientology is considered a cult and was fined thousands of euros (dollars) for taking advantage of vulnerable followers.

In Belgium, it faces an outright ban if the case, which opens Monday in Brussels, ends with a conviction on charges of fraud, extortion, running a criminal organisation and violating the right to privacy.

The Belgian authorities launched a first investigation in 1997 after several former members complained about its practices.

A second followed in 2008 when an employment agency charged that the church had made bogus job offers so as to draw in and recruit new members.

"Scientologists have no doubt the court will do its work with integrity and understanding so that, just as in Italy and Spain where we have been the object of the same campaign of accusations and false revelations, their good faith will be recognised," church spokesman Eric Roux said in the statement.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

It is recognised as a religion in the United States and in other countries such as Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, and claims a worldwide membership of 12 million.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/belgian-scientologists-in-no-doubt-of-beating-fraud-charges-115102301140_1.html