DOCUMENT: STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY OF SCIENTOLOGISTS OF ST. PETERSBURG REGARDING RAIDS IN SCIENTOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS
On 28 March, law enforcements agencies of the F.S.B. and M.V.D. conducted searches in organizations of the religious community of Scientologists in St. Petersburg and Moscow oblast.
Thereby they paralyzed the activity of an organization whose members, even in their free time, are engaged in socially useful projects like, for example, enlightening youth about the harm of drugs. Just since the beginning of this year, Scientologists distributed in Moscow a half million educational booklets about the harm of drugs and in St. Petersburg, more than 100,000 booklets.
Every citizen of the RF may go to any church, Christian, Muslim, Scientology, and this is his right according to our constitution of the Russian Federation.
Any religion insists that its parishioners lead an ethical, moral lifestyle. In Scientology there is a code of honor, the code of the Scientologist, and moral code of "The Road to Happiness," in following which a person remains a decent member of society.
This is not the first time that security personnel have searched Scientology churches, trying to transfer suspicion of the crime of an individual person onto an entire religious community.
This does not mean that now it is necessary to search the buildings of Orthodox churches upon the arrest of governors and ministers who profess Orthodoxy.
We consider that everything that is happening is an example of the continuation of a discriminatory policy with respect to Scientology, which is provoked by individual persons who are working for the destruction of our Russian society.
With respect, the community of Scientologists of St. Petersburg.
(tr. by PDS, posted 29 March 2019)
Russian original posted on portal of Credo.Press, 29 March 2019
SEARCHES IN CASE OF EMBEZZLEMENT OF 800 MILLION RUBLES FROM INVESTORS CONDUCTED AMONG SCIENTOLOGISTS IN ST. PETERSBURG, MOSCOW, AND SUBURBS
Interfax-Religiia, 28 March 2019
Searches in a case of embezzlement of funds from members of a condominium were conducted on Thursday in offices of the Scientology church in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and suburbs.
As the press service of the department of the M.V.D. for St. Petersburg and Leningrad oblast, operational activities were conducted in the northern capital within the framework of a criminal case that was opened in June 2017.
"The funds belonged to members of one of the residential construction cooperatives located in Vsevolod district of Leningrad oblast. According to preliminary information, the victims were over 400 members of the shared construction and the total of embezzled funds was about 800 million rubles," the report says.
Similar operational investigative actions occurred in offices in Moscow and suburban Moscow, the ministry adds.
As reported, earlier in the case of the embezzlement of funds of investors, two sentences were issued against Ekaterina Zaborsky, the chair of the board of the Olympus, Villa Valley, Suzdal Yard and Troitskaya Hill consumer societies. In two cases the issue was the embezzlement of about 160 million rubles, which she disposed of at her own discretion, including transfer to the Scientology church of which she is a member. (tr. by PDS, posted 29 March 2019)
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