PARIS — Prosecutors opened an investigation Friday into the disappearance of hundreds of documents that were to be used as evidence in a case against Church of Scientology members, judicial officials said. Authorities were expected in the coming days to name a special magistrate to carry out the investigation, the officials said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity. The dossiers, which disappeared in 1998 from the Justice Ministry, were part of a case opened in 1990 against 16 regional Scientology ...

The distinction was important. To McCabe, the issue was never about the Church of Scientology as a religious institution. It was about whether a corporation of the church had illegally abused a member named Lisa McPherson, and whether it practiced medicine on her without a license, in the days leading to her death in 1995. The Church of Scientology now has two distinctions at the hands of Bernie McCabe. The first is that he chose to prosecute the church (I mean, ...

CLEARWATER — Alarmed at the "massive impact" of two criminal charges, the Church of Scientology's worldwide leader quickly offered Pinellas County's top prosecutor a deal. Drop the charges, David Miscavige told State Attorney Bernie McCabe in November 1998, and the church would make a $500,000 donation to the county's EMS system. It also would pay the nearly $200,000 in expenses incurred in what then was a three-year investigation into Lisa McPherson's 1995 death while in the care of her fellow Scientologists. ...

The Church of Scientology in Clearwater says it is immune from criminal prosecution in the death of Lisa McPherson and wants the felony charges against it dismissed. In lengthy motions filed this week, Scientology's lawyers argue that the charges filed against the church last November "are both unnecessary and impermissible." Church staffers gave "spiritual assistance" to McPherson, a fellow Scientologist, in the days before she died, thus their actions were protected under the First Amendment and the state's new Religious Freedom ...

Scientology leaders say they want peace. They say they want to stay out of court. But with both foes at home and foes abroad, that goal may be elusive. The spiritual home of the Church of Scientology is in Clearwater, but for many years now its leaders have had worldwide ambitions. But as disciples have carried L. Ron Hubbard's teachings away from America's shore, the reception has been almost universally chilly at best – and at times openly hostile. At one ...

Scientology leaders say they want peace. They say they want to stay out of court. But with both foes at home and foes abroad, that goal may be elusive. Leaders of the Clearwater-based Church of Scientology say they hope the years of heavy legal expenses are over. That may not be a realistic hope. While the number of cases Scientology is currently pursuing is down in the United States, a survey of the cases still under way shows a persistence and ...

Around the clock, from Norway, the Netherlands, Australia and every corner of the United States, the critics of Scientology discuss the controversial organization and its practices. A court decision in Sweden is quickly posted to the news group, followed quickly by a full translation. Daily transcripts of a trial in Northern California are up before daybreak the next day, and news accounts from all over the world are quickly translated and reproduced. Many of those who post messages to the central ...

NEW PORT RICHEY – Two members of the state physician's board are questioning whether a health-food store with ties to Scientology is practicing medicine illegally by offering a church-sanctioned vitamin regimen. The treatment, called "purification rundown," is one of the first steps Scientologists take upon joining the church. Church members tout the rundown as a purifying routine that enables people to kick drug abuse and "think more clearly and have more energy." Some physicians, and a former Scientologist interviewed by the ...

ANNOUNCER: On December 14, 1998, this is “Investigative Reports”. BILL KURTIS: Hello, I’m Bill Kurtis. It is America’s most controversial religion. Some, in fact, say it’s not a religion at all. For 40 years, the Church of Scientology has flourished in this country, while under constant attack by the government, the media, and the psychiatric profession. It’s been perceived as an organization interested only in money making, which brainwashes its members and then bankrupts them; all untrue, say its leaders and ...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Dec 6, 1998 - "I am L. Ron Hubbard," the woman on the hotel room bed announced in a robotic voice. "I created time 3 billion years ago." She rambled on and on, every outburst dutifully scribbled down by those assigned to watch her. "I can't confront force . . . I need my auditor . . . I want to take a toothbrush and brush the floor until I have a cognition." The jargon of Scientology was ...

Justice: Severe dehydration proved fatal to female believer who, family contends, was held against her will. Prosecutor files two felony counts. CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Church of Scientology was charged Friday in the 1995 death of a member whose family claimed she became severely dehydrated after being held against her will for 17 days. Prosecutor Bernie McCabe charged the church with abuse or neglect of a disabled adult and unauthorized practice of medicine, both felonies. The church noted that prosecutors did ...

CLEARWATER — When Lisa McPherson left Morton Plant Hospital with her fellow Scientologists, she crossed a line between worlds that differ sharply on how mental illness should be treated. The Scientologists who watched her for the next 17 days relied on the teachings of their late founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who scorned psychiatry and wrote that any apprentice of his mental health practices "knows more and can do more about the mind than any psychiatrist." In contrast, doctors at Morton Plant ...

The church faces two felony charges in its treatment of Lisa McPherson. The Church of Scientology in Clearwater has been charged with criminal neglect and practicing medicine without a license in the 1995 death of Lisa McPherson, the mentally disturbed Scientologist who turned to outsiders for help before church officials intervened and placed her under their care. Unlicensed Scientology staffers "medicated her without her consent," isolated her and took other measures to treat her physical and mental condition at Scientology's Fort ...

From: jesse_prince@minton.org (Jesse Prince) Subject: What—–Who? Date: 1998/08/04 Message-ID: <35c67b4b.1795322@news.tiac.net> X-Deja-AN: 377691976 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: ARSCC Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: bob@minton.org Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology If you had the unfortunate experience of having had the "privilege" of paying tens of thousands of dollars for Scientology auditing, then you'll have an idea of what I'm about to say here. If not, I'll make it simple for you. When a Scientology victim progresses up to OT3, what do you find out? L. Ron ...

When you sit down to read, do you find yourself feeling blank or sort of spinny? Squashed, bent or just not there? Sure you do. And here's why: You've gone past a word you don't understand. In fact, the only reason a person gives up studying or becomes confused or unable to learn is because that person went past a word that was misunderstood. At least that's what the followers of the late Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard want you to ...

The business-minded Scientology strategists are conquering Russia with psycho-programs and management courses — and they seek access to politics and the military Oh, what a wonderful day, Marina thinks it's great to write up her sins. Anna has learned that aspirin ruins her brain. And Vladimir, an old man with thick glasses, can explain what ethics is by using building blocks. That's how it is with Scientologists, everybody has a little bit of success every day in the evening at 5:30 ...

LIKE a real-life angel, Michael star John Travolta has the otherworldly power to heal with his hands. Back in 1994, The EXAMINER was the first to report the amazing healing magic in John's fingertips. Since then, he's added dozens of "patients" to the list of pals and co-workers who've received his miraculous touch. * Rock musician Sting's sore throat disappeared after a healing session with John. * On the set of the movie Phenomenon, he cured a crew member's injured leg. ...

PARIS: The Church of Scientology is battling charges in a Lyon courtroom that it is a manipulative and fraudulent cult that practices false medicine and hounded one of its followers to his death. The case could derail the sect's campaign to be accepted as a mainstream faith in several European countries. Last week, it began beaming satellite television advertisements to Britain, its biggest recruiting ground in Europe, despite not being recognized there as a bona fide religion. The advertisements stress a ...

The star of Phenomenon claims the movie is close to real life and says he can cure people with his bare hands — but is it just cult fiction? In John Travolta's latest movie, Phenomenon, the once disco-dancing star plays an ordinary man who is miraculously given supernatural abilities. It sounds like fantasy — but in real life John believes he, too, has weird powers. Behind that famous smile, the 42-year-old gentle family man is an obsessive cult follower who claims ...

The Suit Alleges The Church Of Scientology Violated Several State Laws And Led The Couple On An Emotional Roller Coaster. TAVARES — Samuel Williams' and Janet Miller's odyssey with the Church of Scientology began in 1986 and ended in less than a year. But the Lake County couple's struggle to recover from the experience is nearing 10 years. Their civil suit, which is seeking to recover $542,000 the former husband and wife from Leesburg spent on what they say were bogus ...