LEADERS
OF ST. PETERSBURG CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY APPEAR IN COURT
by
Mikhail Telekhov
A
criminal case concerning illegal enterprise and extremism, of
which the leaders
of the religious group St. Petersburg Church of Scientology are
accused, went
to the Neva district court of St. Petersburg for consideration
on the merits,
RAPSI was told at the Joint Press Service of Courts of St.
Petersburg.
In
the defendants' dock sit the leader of St. Petersburg
Scientologists, Ivan
Matsitsky; the head accountant of the organization, Sakhib
Aliev; the executive
director, Galina Shurinova; the head of the Department on
Official Matters,
Anastasia Terentieva; and the administrator and lawyer,
Konstantsia Esaulkova.
"The
measure of restriction chosen for Matsitsky, Aliev, and
Terentieva was
prohibition of certain activities. From Shurinova and Esaulkova,
a signed
pledge not to depart was taken," the Joint Press Service
specified.
They
are charged with organizing an extremist community, incitement
of hatred and
strife, debasement of human dignity, and illegal enterprise.
According
to information of the investigation, from 2013 to 2016 the St.
Petersburg
Church of Scientology, which was not registered as a legal
entity, received for
rendering services in the form of lectures and educational
seminars more than
276 million rubles, which were transferred to the controlled
bank accounts of
the leadership.
As
regards debasing human dignity, according to the directorate of
the Russian
F.S.B. for St. Petersburg and Leningrad oblast, it consists in
the fact that some
members of the Church of Scientology constituted a social group
under the label
"Sources of Troubles." Concerning them, so-called "ethical
orders" were issued, which forbade delinquent adepts from
participating in
Auditing (the most important spiritual practice in
Scientology—RAPSI note).
Also, according to the investigation's account, people who were
not loyal to
this religious organization or who ceased being loyal to it
constituted a
social group, "Suppressive Persons," against whom any actions,
including bullying and humiliation, were permitted on the part
of members of
the church.
The
accountant Aliev was charged also under part 4 of article 174.1
(laundering of
money or other property acquired by a person as the result of
committing a
crime).
According
to materials of the case, Aliev, along with a still unidentified
group of
persons, laundered 17 million rubles out of 140 million that
were received in
cash from illegal business activity. (tr. by PDS, posted 13
February 2020)
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