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Patron Meritorious
A St. Petersburg (Russia) lawyer comments
Translation of a Russian article posted on April 22, 2010 on the Russkaya liniya news website:
Source of map: wikipedia - Khanty-Mansi and Surgut
Translation of a Russian article posted on April 22, 2010 on the Russkaya liniya news website:
Source of map: wikipedia - Khanty-Mansi and Surgut
R. N. Yuriev: Prohibition of Literature a Blow to Scientologists' Finances
A St. Petersburg lawyer comments on the court decision declaring Hubbard's works as extremist
April 22, 2010
Surgut city court in Khantia-Mansia has ruled as extremist the works of the founder of the Scientology sect, Ron Hubbard, and decided to ban their distribution in Russia. The lectures entitled "The Factors: Admiration & The Renaissance of Beingness Lectures" (1 to 18) and "The Unification Congress: Communication! Freedom & Ability Lectures" (1 to 16), in particular were judged extremist, as well as many others.
The decision to ban the materials was based on a verification undertaken by the Surgut transportation prosecutor. Specialists in the field of psychiatry, psychology, and sociology examined Scientology literature and audio-video disks (a total of 28 different items) and concluded that the materials presented for analysis are not acceptable to distribute, as they undermine the traditional spiritual basis of the lives of the citizens of Russia.
The court was convinced that Scientology materials contain appeals to social and religious discord and propaganda about the exclusiveness, superiority, or inferiority of a person based on social and religious affiliation. In addition, Scientologists call for obstructing the lawful activity of state bodies, judicial and law enforcement agencies in particular, and for committing crimes motivated by ideological and religious hatred.
For comment on the Surgut court's decision, we turned to St. Petersburg lawyer and head of the Yuriev Law Office, Rodion Nikolayevich Yuriev.
Responding to a question about whether this decision is related to an increase of the Scientology sect's activity in Russia or to the increased vigilance of the Russian law enforcement agencies, Yuriev remarked that "in this case, it would be more correct to say that this is the continuation of steps taken by the state to combat destructive sectarian organizations, and as far as Scientology is concerned, our authorities have been fighting it a long time with very diverse methods."
"We have a law on the counteraction of extremism. According to the law, the competent public authorities may apply to the court to have certain materials recognized as extremist," explained the lawyer. "Now, under this law, Hubbard's works will be included in the register of extremist materials, and from then on, anyone found with these materials can be brought to justice. In addition, an organization which distributes Scientology materials may be dissolved by a court if it does not renounce their distribution."
Speaking about the adequacy of our laws in the fight against sects, Yuriev emphasized that "This is a difficult situation, because we have freedom of conscience, and the controls which lawmakers tried to introduce by adopting the law on extremism are ineffective. Scientologists have extensive experience in the evasion of legal prohibitions. When someone tries to ban them, they always say that they are not a religious organization. The public, of course, sees them as a religious organization, but for the state, they are simply an organization in the field of psychiatry. As a result, it was necessary to prosecute them for practicing illegal methods of treatment."
"Considering the fight against sects from a broader perspective," Yuriev added, "well-known sect-watcher Alexander Dvorkin's position on this issue is quite definite. He uses the term 'totalitarian sect.' But if one does not make a distinction between a sect and the Orthodox Church in connection with tradition, then any Orthodox monastery is liable to be declared totalitarian. Everything is voluntary in the monasteries, but sect members can say the same thing. This is the wrong way to go. For us the issue should be a question of truth or falseness, traditionalness or non-traditionalness, not of totalitarianism."
Asked how dangerous the Scientology cult is and whether the ban on Hubbard's works can be viewed as a serious blow to the sect, Yuriev said that "Scientologists like to exaggerate Scientology's importance in the world, but this case revolves more around the health of citizens than the threat of the sect in Russia. The percentage of people requiring psychiatric care is very large among Scientologists. For them, this is the core audience. The sale of Hubbard's books is the main source of financial gain for Scientologists. And if the sale of this literature is prohibited, then this could be a severe blow to them. At the same it should be noted that, in this case, the ban does not apply to all books, but only some, and it is known that L. R. Hubbard was an extremely prolific graphomaniac, so Scientologists still have something to sell to their followers."
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