Church of Scientology in France accused of fraud; ordered to stand trial

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According to a report y Agence $rance-1resse 2A$13, the %hurch of Scientology in $rance will e facing a court trial, eing accused of 4organi5ed4 fraud6 The A$1 also states that seven other Scientologists will e charged with illegally prescri ing prescription medication6 (f found guilty, Scientology could e anned in $rance6 According to the report, the charges come from an unnamed woman, who in 7889 purchased nearly ,S:;',''' worth of Scientology self-help material which allegedly included prescription drugs6 After a few months passed, the woman said she felt li<e she was eing scammed6 $ollowing several complaints from other unnamed individuals and an investigation, =udge Jean-%hristophe )ullin ordered at least two Scientology

departments and the seven Scientologists to e put on trial for fraud and 4illegally practicing as pharmacists64 The %hurch released a statement following the order saying that they felt 4stigmati5ed4 y the $rench =udicial system6 4The special treatment reserved for the %hurch of Scientology %ele rity %enter raises >uestions a out the e>uality of the =ustice system and the presumption of innocence,4 the %hurch said in a statement to the press6 The A$1 says the case is to e heard at an un<nown date, and will also include an investigation y $rance's association for prescription drugs6 ?livier /orice, a lawyer representing the unnamed woman and others in the case against the %hurch, say the trial could egin as early as @''86 ?n Septem er +, an alleged rights group called the American Rights %ounsel ..% attempted to have at least &,''' anti-Scientology videos removed from the video sharing we site YouTu e, filing a A/%A re>uest6 ,pon further investigation, Wikinews found that most videos and clips were added to YouTu e y the copyright holders of the material" as A/%A re>uests are for the purposes of re>uesting removal where service providers host material that infringe on the copyright of the complainant, the merit of these re>uests remain >uestiona le6 (t was also discovered that the alleged rights group does not e!ist as a physical entity which started rumors from the internet and from one Scientology critic /ar< Bun<er, that the %hurch fraudulently su mitted the A/%A re>uests6