A man who blames the Church of Scientology for his brother's suicide added his voice Monday to calls for an Australia Senate inquiry into the religion. Belfast-born Stephen McBride, 35, flew from the west coast city of Perth to Canberra on Monday to support a senator's call for an inquiry into the church. The Senate could vote as early as Tuesday on Sen Nick Xenophon's motion to hold a wide-reaching inquiry into the church that was founded in 1953 by the ...

For the three days leading up to soldier Edward McBride's suicide, his family say he was bombarded by telephone calls and texts from Church of Scientology members. The family believe the church played a major role in his death, but have spent the past two years without answers or recourse. Now they've urged the federal government to initiate an inquiry into the controversial religious group, under fire following recent allegations of blackmail, sanctioned beatings, forced abortions and financial fraud. Independent senator ...

Hollywood figures quit 'rip-off' church as Australian prime minister threatens parliamentary inquiry into its activities The security at the red-brick and glass-walled horseshoe of the John Joseph Moakley courthouse on Boston's waterfront was unusually tight. Anybody who was not a member of the city's bar association was swept with a search wand. Photo IDs were checked. Mobile phones were taken from guests, who included the Hollywood star Tom Cruise. The occasion was a memorial service for Scientology's top legal adviser for ...

A former member threatens to disclose the inner workings of the organisation to which he was 'persuaded to give substantial sums' By Adam Luck Sunday, 22 November 2009 A businessman is suing the Church of Scientology for hundreds of thousands of pounds, claiming that he lost his girlfriend and business after she became indoctrinated by the controversial self-styled church. David Craig, who at one time joined the Scientologists, claims that he was persuaded to pay out more than £170,000 to the ...

Senator Nick Xenophon's stunning attack on the Church of Scientology this week has shone a light on a worldwide group many former members accuse of ruining their lives through fear and abuse. SCIENTOLOGISTS lured Dean Detheridge off the street using their tried and tested technique of offering a personality test. He wasn't much interested, but they were extremely skilled and persistent persuaders, and he found he couldn't say no. Seven days later he was on staff in what turned out to ...

Senator Nick Xenophon is a lawyer. So he understands the difference between allegations and facts. Yet when he spoke in the Senate on Tuesday night he presented unsubstantiated allegations as if they were factual evidence of what he labelled "criminal" behaviour. He spoke under Parliamentary privilege, so as to avoid the risk of defamation. But in the sense that he presented spurious allegations as if it were evidence, he abused the privilege that Parliament offered him. Advertisement: Story continues below This ...

DANGEROUS dismissal of psychiatry and mental health problems must be part of a Senate inquiry into the Church of Scientology, a Melbourne cult counsellor said yesterday. Cult Counselling Australia director Raphael Aron said Scientologists put vulnerable people at risk by taking them off psychiatric drugs and treatment, instead treating them with vitamins and E-meter readings. Mr Aron supported Senator Nick Xenophon's call in Federal Parliament on Tuesday for a Senate inquiry into the Scientologists. The senator tabled letters citing forced abortions, ...

The Church of Scientology says independent senator Nick Xenophon ignored an invitation to meet with church officials before he used parliamentary privilege to attack the organisation. Church of Scientology Australia president Reverend Vicki Dunstan said Senator Xenophon "made no effort to ascertain the truth or falsity of the allegations he made in the Senate on Tuesday night". Senator Xenophon used parliamentary privilege to raise allegations of criminal misconduct on behalf of ex-members of the church, and called for an inquiry into ...

KEVIN Rudd raised concerns about the Church of Scientology yesterday, as NSW police began investigating complaints from seven former Scientologists. The Prime Minister said he intended to examine allegations against the church before deciding whether to back independent senator Nick Xenophon's demand for a Senate inquiry. Senator Xenophon told parliament on Tuesday that Scientology was a "criminal organisation" hiding behind religion. In response to that statement, Mr Rudd said the senator was making "grave allegations". "Many people in Australia have real ...

Scientology offers refunds to people who leave the group, a spokesperson told Sunrise this morning. Scientologist Virginia Stewart appeared on Sunrise today to further defend the Church of Scientology against the allegations made in parliament by Independent Senator Nick Xenophon. "It's very shocking to me to hear what they're saying," Stewart said of the allegations aired on Today Tonight on Wednesday evening. "The points that they raise, we are going to individually take up." "We will be addressing these in full," ...

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has concerns about Scientology but says the government will exercise caution in examining allegations of abuse levelled against the church. Mr Rudd says the government will consider the need for a formal inquiry into the church - and its tax-free status. South Australian senator Nick Xenophon used parliamentary privilege on Tuesday to castigate the church, labelling it a criminal organisation hiding behind so-called religious beliefs. Advertisement: Story continues below Tabling letters from eight former followers, he said ...

Since writing about the public connection between Scientology and Polaris Media Group a lot of accusations and claims have been thrown around as the discussion ran hot. There’s been a lot of claims made and from what I gather the revelation of the link, which up until only recently hasn’t been publicised with any concrete proof, has made a lot of people uncomfortable. Up until now I’ve been written off by Polaris EMC as spreading rumours, despite the fact that I ...

The Church of Scientology has rejected claims by Senator Nick Xenophon that it's involved in widespread criminal behaviour and abuse. John & Sandy reveal recent accusations with spokesperson Cyrus Brooks. [Embedded audio.]

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is to investigate claims that Scientology is a criminal organisation that sanctioned beatings, imprisonments, forced abortions, sexual abuse and fraud. The sensational claims about the church, whose members include many high-profile celebrities, were made by a South Australian senator, Nick Xenophon, who shares a surname with an ancient Greek warrior. But unlike the mercenary of history who fought armies in central Asia in about 400BC, Mr Xenophon has gone into battle with Scientologists after receiving letters ...

Hollywood heavy Tom Cruise looked like just another member of The Firm the other night when he turned up at attorney Earle Cooley’s jam-packed memorial service at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse . The “Knight & Day” leading man, wearing a dark suit and his trademark Tinseltown smile, joined rarely seen Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige at the service for Cooley, who was the religious group’s legal Top Gun for more than 25 years. Talk about Risky Business . . ...

NEWARK — A 19-year-old Verona man today was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for participating in a cyber attack against the Church of Scientology’s websites almost two years ago. Dmitriy Guzner, who pleaded guilty in May to one count of unauthorized impairment of a protected computer, appeared in U.S. District Court in Newark this morning before Judge Joseph A. Greenaway. [Embedded video: Video from Scientology raid in New York by the group Anonymous.] Greenaway said he ...

This is a speech Senator Nick Xenophon gave in the Senate on November 17, 2009 I rise to speak tonight on an issue of utmost seriousness that I believe deserves a great deal of scrutiny by law enforcement agencies and by this parliament. In the past few weeks, I have been contacted by former members of the Church of Scientology after I questioned the tax exemption status the organisation has under our tax laws during an interview on the Seven Network’s ...

L’Église de scientologie a investi 4 millions de dollars pour l’aménagement d’une église de nouvelle génération au centre du quartier Nouvo St-Roch. Ce super centre, qui sera le plus moderne au Canada, ouvrira d’ici peu ses portes sur la rue St-Joseph. Avec les scandales qui éclaboussent l’Église depuis quelques mois, doit-on s’inquiéter de son expansion à Québec? ? La question n’est pas de critiquer les croyances de qui que ce soit. Par contre, il est nécessaire de se questionner sur certaines ...

THE Church of Scientology is a "criminal organisation" hiding behind religion, the Senate was told last night. Independent senator Nick Xenophon tabled explosive letters from former Scientology officials and staff alleging a litany of abuses, including coerced abortions, assault, imprisonment, covering up sexual abuse, embezzlement of church funds and blackmail. Senator Xenophon, who said he had referred the allegations to police, demanded a Senate inquiry into the church. And he questioned the tax-exempt status given to the church, which he said ...

INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon has accused the Church of Scientology of being a criminal organisation. The South Australian parliamentarian said he had been contacted by a number of former Scientologists, after he questioned the organisation's tax exempt status in a recent television interview. "They have provided long and detailed letters to me about the workings of this organisation," he told the Senate. "These people rightly see themselves as victims of Scientology." Senator Xenophon said their correspondence implicated the organisation in a ...

In January 2008, online hackers launched a massive attack on the Church of Scientology’s websites, forcing the church to hire computer security experts to reinstate its online presence. In the end, only one person, 19-year-old Dmitriy Guzner, of Verona, has admitted playing a role in the cyber assault. On Wednesday, three days before his 20th birthday, Guzner is expected to be sentenced by Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. in federal court in Newark. Guzner, who has pleaded guilty to "unauthorized impairment ...