French Scientology trial ends, verdict in October

PARIS — A defense lawyer representing the Church of Scientology in a Paris trial that could result in the group being banned in France asked Wednesday for an acquittal.

In closing his arguments, lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve asked judges hearing the trial to "dissolve (their) prejudices and preconceived ideas" about the Church of Scientology and acquit the group and six of its leaders in France, who are facing fraud and other charges.

The group, considered a sect in France, has faced prosecution and difficulties in registering its activities in many countries.

The French trial, which opened last month, wrapped up on Wednesday. A verdict is expected on Oct. 27.

Earlier this week, the prosecution asked that the group be banned and handed a hefty euro2 million ($2.77 million) fine, if convicted on charges of fraud and illegal pharmaceutical activity. The prosecutor also asked that group's leaders in France be handed suspended prison sentences of two to four years and assorted smaller fines.

The trial comes more than a decade after one of the three plaintiffs originally filed a complaint against the Church of Scientology. A young woman said she took out loans and spent the equivalent of euro21,000 ($29,400) on books, courses and "purification packages" after being recruited by the group in 1998. When she sought reimbursement and to leave the group, its leadership refused.

Investigating judge Jean-Christophe Hullin spent years examining the group's activities, and in his indictment criticized practices he said were aimed at extracting large sums of money from members and plunging them into a "state of subjection."

The investigator questioned what he called the Scientologists' "obsession" with financial gain, and the group's practice of selling vitamins, leading to the charge of "acting illegally as a pharmacy."

Maisonneuve countered that neither the Church of Scientology nor the six leaders on trial had gained monetarily from the group's practices.

The public prosecutor insisted that some of the group's practices, including personality tests administered to new recruits and its "commercial harassment" constituted the sort of "fraudulent maneuvers" punishable under the fraud charges.

The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, founded in 1954 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has been active for decades in Europe, but has struggled to gain status as a religion. The U.S. State Department has criticized Belgium, Germany and other European countries for labeling Scientology a cult or sect and enacting laws to restrict its operations.

The Church of Scientology teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems. It claims 10 million members around the world, including celebrity devotees Tom Cruise and John Travolta.