CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/17/2024 (Awards, Universal Knowledge, Australia, Legal, Neuroscience Research)

Awards, Universal Knowledge, Australia, Legal, Neuroscience Research 

Info-Cult: Centre for Assistance and for the Study of Cultic Phenomena: Winners of the Dianne Casoni International Award 2024

The International Dianne Casoni Award aims to promote and reward a written work that addresses one or more aspects of cultic phenomena.

Scientific Category: This year the award winners were Omar Saldaña, Emma Antelo et Álvaro Rodríguez-Carballeira for the outstanding quality and relevance of their article: "Group Psychological Abuse Perpetration: Development and Validation of a Measure Using Classical and Modern Test Theory"

Popular Category:This year the award winner was Gillie Jenkinson for the outstanding quality and relevance. of her book "Walking Free from the Trauma of Coercive, Cultic and Spiritual Abuse. A Workbook for Recovery and Growth"

ICSA: Lifetime Achievement Award 

Ann Stamler: "Though I am profoundly grateful to be considered for this award, I actually think it is we, who have benefited so deeply, who should be giving this award to ICSA.

According to its website:  "ICSA's Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals who have, to an exceptional degree, embodied in their work ICSA's values of openness, courtesy, and dialogue, and who have made academic and/or other exceptional contributions to the field of cultic studies."  I remember when I attended my first full ICSA annual conference, in 2010 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, what thrilled me was that every aspect of the conference exemplified exactly the values this award names: openness, courtesy, and dialogue.

Like an increasing number of people today, I grew up in an environment that was the polar opposite of those values—it was closed, abusive, and unwilling to hear to any but one person's philosophy. At that 2010 conference's closing ceremony (I believe I was sitting next to Bill Goldberg, who had just received the first Lifetime Achievement Award), I remember saying, out loud, I want to retire so I can volunteer with ICSA. Not long afterwards, I was able to do exactly that, and in the years since have had the honor of enjoying the most meaningful work of my life."

Previous award recipients: 

2022: Joseph Kelly

2018: Carol and Noel Giambalvo
2016: David Clark
2016: Joseph Szimhart
2013: Eileen Barker, PhD; Friedrich Griess
2011: Patrick L. Ryan
2010: William Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., Psy. A.

The Examiner: Former cult leader Natasha Lakaev loses libel case appeal

"Accused former cult leader Natasha Lakaev has failed in her bid to overturn the findings of her marathon libel trial against one of her former members, Carli McConkey.

Ms Lakaev, who headed the Universal Knowledge organisation throughout the 2000s, launched libel proceedings against Ms McConkey following the publication of her book, 'The Cult Effect', in 2017.

In it, Ms McConkey detailed her experience of living as a Universal Knowledge member over a [13]-year period, and described the organisation as a "doomsday cult" that abused its members and prophesied the end of the world in 2011 or 2012.

During the trial, Ms Lakaev's lawyer Daniel Zeeman claimed that the book and other articles Ms McConkey published online improperly impugned her as a criminal, a bully, a fraudster and as someone that indoctrinated people into a cult.

Ms Lakaev denied the allegations in the book and articles, but in March this year, Justice Stephen Estcourt found that all 16 of Ms McConkey's imputations were either true or substantially true.

Ms Lakaev later appealed the decision, claiming that Justice Estcourt erred in his decision by finding that four of the imputations in Ms McConkey's book were truthful.

Former Universal Knowledge member Carli McConkey defended herself during the libel trial.

In his reasons for decision released on Friday, July 12, Supreme Court Chief Justice Alan Blow ruled there was little chance of Ms Lakaev's appeal grounds succeeding."

The Mercury: No 'significant prospects of success': Former 'cult' leader appeal hopes dashed

" ... Dr Lakaev previously launched a defamation battle against former follower Carli McConkey over claims she made about Dr Lakaev in her self-published book, The Cult Effect.

The claims include that Lakaev labelled herself a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and Ms McConkey was forced to parade naked in front of Lakaev.

Dr Lakaev wished to challenge all sixteen findings found in the dismissal of her defamation claim.

She alleged the presiding judge made findings based "solely on character" and "improper handling" of Ms McConkey's expert witness and that her former legal counsel represented her "so badly" an appeal should be allowed.

Lakaev ran into issues when filing her appeal to the Supreme Court however, with a change of legal representation three times before finally representing herself, a process which took two months.

Court documents revealed that Lakaev's original legal representation Hobart firm Butler McIntyre & Butler was unwilling to act for her in the appeal due to an outstanding trial bill over $100,000.

In handing down his decision, Chief Justice Alan Blow said Dr Lakaev was "unlikely to succeed" in an appeal to the Full Court – a court consisting of three or more Supreme Court Judges.

"If the appeal is not dismissed, the respondent will suffer significant prejudice in bearing the burden of defending the proceedings," Chief Justice Blow said."

PsyPost: Brain neurons key to learning from negative experiences identified in new study

"Negative experiences often drive us to avoid repeating them. This fundamental aspect of learning is crucial not only for humans but also for animals.

A recent study conducted by neuroscientists at the HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine in Budapest, Hungary, and published in Nature Communications, has identified a specific group of neurons in the brain that play a key role in this process. The study found that neurons located in a deep brain region known as the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB) are essential for learning from negative experiences.

The ability to learn from negative experiences is a critical survival mechanism. When faced with adverse outcomes, our brain processes the event, learns from it, and adjusts our behavior to avoid similar situations in the future. This type of learning is often driven by increased attention and arousal triggered by negative stimuli. The researchers aimed to understand which specific neurons and brain regions are responsible for this enhanced attention and learning from negative events, a concept they refer to as 'attention for aversive learning.'"

" ... The study, "Parvalbumin-expressing basal forebrain neurons mediate learning from negative experience," was authored by Panna Hegedüs, Bálint Király, Dániel Schlingloff, Victoria Lyakhova, Anna Velencei, Írisz Szabó, Márton I. Mayer, Zsofia Zelenak, Gábor Nyiri, and Balázs Hangya."

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

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No ‘significant prospects of success’: Former ‘cult’ leader appeal hopes dashed

Genevieve Holding

The Mercury

July 13, 2024

A former ‘cult’ leader, now living in the Huon Valley, has lost her bid to appeal against a defamation finding on Friday, with a Hobart judge saying her case had no “significant prospects of success”.

Dr Natasha Lakaev is the former leader of NSW organisation Universal Knowledge and is now the proprietor of bed and breakfast, The Bears Went Over The Mountain in Geeveston.

Dr Lakaev previously launched a defamation battle against former follower Carli McConkey over claims she made about Dr Lakaev in her self-published book, The Cult Effect.

The claims include that Lakaev labelled herself a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and Ms McConkey was forced to parade naked in front of Lakaev.

Dr Lakaev wished to challenge all sixteen findings found in the dismissal of her defamation claim.

She alleged the presiding judge made findings based “solely on character” and “improper handling” of Ms McConkey’s expert witness and that her former legal counsel represented her “so badly” an appeal should be allowed.

Lakaev ran into issues when filing her appeal to the Supreme Court however, with a change of legal representation three times before finally representing herself, a process which took two months.

Court documents revealed that Lakaev’s original legal representation Hobart firm Butler McIntyre & Butler was unwilling to act for her in the appeal due to an outstanding trial bill over $100,000.

In handing down his decision, Chief Justice Alan Blow said Dr Lakaev was “unlikely to succeed” in an appeal to the Full Court – a court consisting of three or more Supreme Court Judges.

“If the appeal is not dismissed, the respondent will suffer significant prejudice in bearing the burden of defending the proceedings,” Chief Justice Blow said.

“There is absolutely no indication that any of the appellant’s original or foreshadowed grounds of appeal have any significant prospects of success.”

Chief Justice Blow also ruled that Lakaev pay Ms McConkey’s costs in addressing the appeal.

https://www.themercury.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TMWEB_MRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.themercury.com.au%2Fnews%2Ftasmania%2Fno-significant-prospects-of-success-former-cult-leader-appeal-hopes-dashed

Former cult leader Natasha Lakaev loses libel case appeal

Benjamin Seeder

The Examiner

July 12, 2024

Accused former cult leader Natasha Lakaev has failed in her bid to overturn the findings of her marathon libel trial against one of her former members, Carli McConkey.

Ms Lakaev, who headed the Universal Knowledge organisation throughout the 2000s, launched libel proceedings against Ms McConkey following the publication of her book, 'The Cult Effect', in 2017.

In it, Ms McConkey detailed her experience of living as a Universal Knowledge member over a [13]-year period, and described the organisation as a "doomsday cult" that abused its members and prophesied the end of the world in 2011 or 2012.

During the trial, Ms Lakaev's lawyer Daniel Zeeman claimed that the book and other articles Ms McConkey published online improperly impugned her as a criminal, a bully, a fraudster and as someone that indoctrinated people into a cult.

Ms Lakaev denied the allegations in the book and articles, but in March this year, Justice Stephen Estcourt found that all 16 of Ms McConkey's imputations were either true or substantially true.

Ms Lakaev later appealed the decision, claiming that Justice Estcourt erred in his decision by finding that four of the imputations in Ms McConkey's book were truthful.

Former Universal Knowledge member Carli McConkey defended herself during the libel trial. 

In his reasons for decision released on Friday, July 12, Supreme Court Chief Justice Alan Blow ruled there was little chance of Ms Lakaev's appeal grounds succeeding.

"Nothing in the appellant's written or oral submissions suggests to me that a challenge to any particular one of the 16 findings would have any obvious merit," Justice Blow wrote.

He dismissed the appeal due to lack of prosecution - meaning that Ms Lakaev had not properly filed her appeal documentation and had failed to move her appeal application forward.

Ms Lakaev, for the most part, represented herself during the appeal.

During the case, it emerged that she owed her former lawyer, Mr Zeeman, over $100,000 in connection to her marathon libel trial.

The appeal court heard that her new lawyer had been unable to obtain court documents from Mr Zeeman, who was holding them as a solicitor's lien until the fees owed were paid.

Ms Lakaev later told the court that she would represent herself during the appeal after learning that the case would cost $500,000.

In the appeal hearing in May, Ms Lakaev sought a delay in proceedings for six months and also claimed that her trial had been bungled by Mr Zeeman.

She alleged he failed to call a key witness that might have changed the outcome of the case.

During the libel trial, which stretched over months in 2023 and early 2024, the court heard testimony that Ms Lakaev claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ as well as one of 12 members of the 'Intergalactic Council of the Universe'.

The court also heard testimony that Ms Lakaev's organisation had prophesied the end of the world in 2011 or 2012 and had offered courses to followers that taught them how to survive the end of times by switching dimensions.

Followers paid tens of thousands of dollars to access various courses, were subject to abuse and were exposed to gay pornography, the trial heard.

https://www.examiner.com.au/story/8693602/accused-cult-leader-natasha-lakaev-loses-defamation-appeal/

Former 'cult leader' loses defamation trial against book author

Benjamin Seeder
The Advocate
March 4 2024

The former head of the Universal Knowledge new age organisation has failed in her libel claim against former acolyte and book author Carli McConkey.

In his decision published on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Estcourt ruled that all of the imputations against alleged ex cult leader Natasha Lakaev were either true or substantially true.

Ms Lakaev sued Ms McConkey for defamation in the Tasmanian Supreme Court, after the publication of her book, 'The Cult Effect', in 2017.

The much-delayed trial began last year, and the court heard testimony that Ms Lakaev had claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ as well as one of 12 members of the 'Intergalactic Council of the Universe'.

During the trial, claims emerged that Ms Lakaev's Universal Knowledge organisation had prophesised the end of the world in 2012, and had offered courses to followers that taught them how to survive the end of times by switching dimensions.

Followers paid tens of thousands of dollars to access various courses, were subject to abuse and exposed to gay pornography, the trial heard.

The court heard that Ms Lakaev had raised over $400,000 from members who became shareholders in Universal Knowledge, and that Ms Lakaev admitted that none of these investors had seen a return.

Another former member testified that in one five-hour session in the late 1990s, participants were encouraged to abuse and bully a woman; a noose was then hung as encouragement for the woman to kill herself.

During the trial, Ms Lakaev, who now lives in Geeveston, south of Hobart, denied burning down the garage of her own bed and breakfast business to collect $80,000 in insurance money.

Ms Lakaev denied that Universal Knowledge members were indoctrinated, and that she ran a cult.

She also denied encouraging drug use among the members, and denied a claim that a pregnant woman was pinned under gym mats and suffocated as part of one course.

In his decision, published on Monday, Justice Estcourt found all of the imputations published in Ms McConkey's book and associated newspaper articles were either wholly true or substantially true.

"I have no difficulty in finding that the plaintiff wrongfully indoctrinated people," Justice Estcourt wrote.

"I have not the slightest doubt that the plaintiff knowingly and wrongfully indoctrinated people into her bizarre belief system."

He found that the imputation from the book that Ms Lakaev had "battered" Ms McConkey and others was absolutely true.

Justice Estcourt found that both Ms Lakaev and her witnesses were unreliable.

"I regard the plaintiff as a dishonest and unreliable witness and the people she called to give evidence as part of her case as not independent witnesses," he wrote.

Justice Estcourt wrote that he was persuaded to a "very high level of satisfaction" that Ms Lakaev was an "arrant liar".

"In my view her evidence, where it differs from that of the defendant or her witnesses, should not be accepted unless it is supported by truly independent evidence or by ontologically objective fact."

Justice Estcourt also found true that Dr Lakaev was a bully, and unlawfully obtained financial advantages from her cult members.

Universal Knowledge's predecessor organisation was founded in the 1990s and was based in rural NSW.




https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/8543777/alleged-cult-leader-natasha-lakaev-loses-defamation-trial/

Former 'cult' leader Natasha Lakaev loses Tas defamation trial

‘Given to grandiosity’: Judge slams former ‘cult’ leader Natasha Lakaev as she loses Tas defamation trial

A former “cult leader” now living in the Huon Valley has failed in her latest defamation battle, with a Hobart judge slamming her as an “arrant liar” and finding all claims made about her were true.

Amber Wilson

The Mercury 

March 4, 2024

A former “cult leader” now living in Tasmania has failed in her latest defamation legal battle, with a Hobart judge slamming her as an “arrant liar” who “wrongfully indoctrinated people into her bizarre belief system”.

Natasha Lakaev, the former leader of NSW organisation Universal Knowledge, moved to Geeveston some years ago and is now the proprietor of bed and breakfast, The Bears Went Over The Mountain.

Her unsuccessful defamation claim against former acolyte Carli McConkey comes after a lengthy 34-day trial in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, which aired dozens of bizarre claims – including that Lakaev claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ, “one of 12 on the “Intergalactic Council of the Universe”, and that she’d been “a lady in waiting in Atlantis”.

It was also alleged Dr Lakaev claimed she came from the “bird tribes” from a different dimension and remembered all of her past lives.

During the trial, Dr Lakaev admitted that her personal improvement courses had included “genital rubbing” and the watching of porn, and told the court she had saved the life of her terminally-ill baby son by giving him herbal remedies.

Dr Lakaev denied during the trial that one of her sub-companies, Lightspeed, had been a “psychic horse-betting scheme”, but claimed instead it was a gambling system based on a “very clever mathematical system” by a “very intelligent” man, who had since died.

In his newly-published judgment, Justice Stephen Estcourt has ruled in favour of Ms McConkey, finding all claims she made about Dr Lakaev in her self-published book The Cult Effect, in newspaper articles reproduced within the book, and via social media posts, were either absolutely or substantially true.

Agreeing with Ms McConkey’s claims and finding her to be a truthful and reliable witness, he found it absolutely true that Dr Lakaev was indeed “a cult leader” who “wrongfully indoctrinated people into her bizarre belief system” and who physically assaulted her followers.

He also found it true that Dr Lakaev was a criminal, that she used and encouraged others in her cult to use illicit drugs, that she was a bully, and unlawfully obtained financial advantages from her cult members.

Justice Estcourt found it was substantially true that Dr Lakaev was a “violent extremist” and that she was not a fit and proper person to practise as a psychologist.

He praised Ms McConkey – who represented herself during the trial – for her honesty, for her keeping of extensive documentation, and her ability to remain unshaken during cross-examination.

“I could not have been more impressed with the defendant’s evidence,” Justice Estcourt said.

In contrast, he described Lakaev as having given “frequent garrulous and seemingly interminable and convoluted answers to questions asked of her” in court and at times spoke in a “rambling, self-aggrandising” manner.

Justice Estcourt said Lakaev “was given to grandiosity” and “untruthful exaggeration” when it came to discussing her “powers as a healer and self-healer” – and said he was unconvinced by her denials that she’d ever claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus.

He said her evidence, given over 17 days of cross-examination, showed a lack of candour and persuaded him, “to a very high level of satisfaction” that Lakaev was an “arrant liar”.

Justice Estcourt also ruled that Lakaev pay Ms McConkey’s costs in fighting the defamation case.

The current case was the latest in a string of defamation battles waged by Dr Lakaev, including proceedings against A Current Affair, Bond University, other former followers, Fairfax Media, News Corp, and a United States dance school.

https://www.themercury.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-tasmania/given-to-grandiosity-judge-slams-former-cult-leader-natasha-lakaev-as-she-loses-tas-defamation-trial/news-story/70c64ff2298ce113a76f2a039c8fa6c5