Police Search Scientology HQ in Budapest over ‘Numerous Crimes’

© szcientologia.org.hu

Over 50 police officers surrounded the main office of the Church of Scientology in the Hungarian capital Budapest before conducting searches inside as part of an ongoing investigation into the movement.

Hungarian media reported citing authorities that the search was over “suspected misuse of personal information and other crimes,” but authorities refused to comment further as the operation was still live.

David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology, during last year's opening of the new center in Budapest. © szcientologia.org.hu

The well-funded group, founded by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, has spent millions of US dollars refurbishing a five-story, 6,000 square-meter building in central Budapest, according to local media. The former factory was opened in a highly-publicized ceremony last year by the movement’s leader, David Miscavige.

Scientology lost its status as an official religion in Hungary in 2011, and is treated as a profit-making venture by the authorities, who have repeatedly spoken out against the group.

The government has cracked down on what it perceives to be cults with the 2012 Church Act passed as a result in part of the government’s tussles with Scientology. The legislation reduced the number of recognized religions from over 300 to just over a dozen.

Scientology has defended itself – saying that it is engaged in numerous education and anti-drug programs in the country.

Outside of its Hollywood stronghold, where it is endorsed by celebrities such as actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology has repeatedly come under fire for its secrecy, vendettas against perceived enemies, and exploitation of followers and employees.

This summer, Russian security services accused Scientology’s St. Petersburg branch of illegally earning nearly $5 million, while earlier this year media in the UK cracked down on the movement for using its uncertified anti-drug programs as a means of recruiting new followers.

Non-Consensual Sects: Senators Prepare Bill to Protect Russians from Destructive Cults

A sectarian prayer house in the village of Nikolskoe, the Penza Region, Russia © Sputnik

A group of Russian senators are preparing a bill to protect the population from destructive sects, including those of foreign origin and those that mask themselves as ‘schools of leadership’, the principal sponsor of the motion told the press.

“Sects are a very dangerous environment. The legislation on this subject needs to be corrected. We are now preparing proposals how to protect our citizens. Unfortunately, at present moment not a single region in the country is without such sects,” RIA Novosti quoted Senator Elena Mizulina as saying on Thursday.

She said that the bill would be prepared in cooperation with government experts and presented to the lower house before November 30.

Mizulina noted that many of the destructive sects arrived in Russia from foreign countries and that not all of them presented themselves as religious groups – some acted as various leadership courses and the like.

“By using various psycho-techniques these sects are defrauding our citizens of their property. In very widespread cases the sects attempt to manipulate the people’s conscience,” she said.

According to the upper house’s working group for countering the threat of destructive sects, about 500 such groups are currently active in Russia.

In 2012, President Vladimir Putin urged the government to toughen the laws governing the activities of the totalitarian cults cropping up across the country. Totalitarian religious groups pose a threat to the society and people, he said: “It’s a hunt not only for souls, but also people’s property.”

Shortly before this, a reclusive Muslim sect had been discovered in Russia’s Tatarstan. Over 70 people, including 27 children, spent a decade in an eight-level catacomb without access to education, healthcare or daylight. In 2007, a similar story was uncovered in Russia’s Penza region, shocking the entire country: Nearly 30 cultists dug a shelter, stocked it with food and spent several months waiting for the apocalypse, which they expected to happen in May 2008.

In February 2016, the State Duma announced that its members had started preparing a bill to protect citizens from destructive sects, but this initiative has not taken the form of a concrete legislative draft.

In June, 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed legislation that severely restricts freedom of religion by prohibiting any religious speech or evangelization outside of places of worship.

In June, 2017, Russian security forces raided the offices of the Church of Scientology.

In August this year, the Justice Ministry listed the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group as a banned extremist organization. This happened after a lengthy court process that had been started because some members of this group had endangered the life of their children by refusing to allow blood transfusions – which is in line with Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs.

Russian law currently allows religious groups to form, including both those that require no official registration and legal formation and ones that should be officially registered. The sects are allowed to stage any activities if they don’t violate existing laws.

It will be very interesting to watch the development of this bill. How far will Russia go in restricting 'foreign' religions? Will only certain Muslim sects like Sunni or Shia be permitted. Will Salafism and Wahabism be outlawed? Will evangelical Christianity be driven out and only Russian Orthodoxy survive?