? On November 5, 1993, the Milan Court of Appeal ruled that Scientology was a "criminal association." The court established "the corpus delicti of 'fraud' in relation to helpless persons in the presence of dementia, established by the conclusion of an examination or other medical documents, as well as the influence of members of the organization on people by persuasion to receive monetary payments in favor of Scientology. The crime of "fraud" was established in all episodes where members of the organization guaranteed recovery, although a cure was very unlikely, or when a full refund was promised in case of unsuccessful treatment, but then, however, the return turned out to be very difficult to implement. The crime of "extortion" was established, when the perpetrators exerted moral pressure on the victims and intimidated them in order to break their resistance and even against their will receive money in favor of the organization. "Members of the organizations committed crimes against individuals who applied to the Dianetics Institute, which later became the Church of Scientology. This fact is very instructive in itself, since in no other organization, which has not only legitimate, but, as it claims, even charitable aims, has such facts been established." In this regard, the Milan Court of Appeal recognized as incorrect the conclusion of the tribunal that the above-mentioned criminal actions are considered to be an isolated case, that is, outside their interconnection, but only as erroneous actions of individual members of the association, who, solely on their own initiative, took illegal actions against people who applied to the organization. The Court of Appeal of Milan established a link between the above actions and the specific result of the directives of the leaders of Scientology. The Milan Court of Appeal rejected the defence's objection that a religion was being tried only because it differed from officially recognized religions, that the case sought to limit the constitutional right to freedom of association to only one particular religious practice, and that the court could not control the religious activities of an organization or pronounce on its constitutionality, since such an investigation would constitute an impermissible interference with the freedom of religious practice. In response to these objections, the Milan Court of Appeal, in assessing Scientology as a criminal association, emphasized that "the Court does not in any way intend to prosecute the Church of Scientology because of its beliefs or particular activities (e.g., auditing sessions, purification courses or other courses) or to engage in the intrinsic significance that these practices may have. On the contrary, the court sees its task as checking whether the methods of the above-mentioned activities are compatible with the legal order. In other words, it is necessary to check whether the means used in this case violated another, but to the same extent legally protected right of an individual to protection from unlawful abuses and whether individuals were criminally deprived of all their property. The protection of the rights of the individual, and therefore of the Scientology community, is of course limited to the protection of other interests, but also of legal interests. Western-style legal order, although it allows an association called "Scientology" to recognize itself as a religion and at the same time acquire new adherents, as well as offer them courses and séances for a fee to convey its confession, it is nevertheless unacceptable under the legal order for the association to use the good intentions of helpless persons to threaten or use violence against them and to deceive everyone in order to obtain large sums of money. which it would not have received in any other way. If it is established that these criminal acts were committed in accordance with a previously approved plan and on the basis of instructions from a group of leaders of the association, then it is inevitable that the crime of 'forming a criminal association' should be established, regardless of whether Scientology is a religion or not." Moreover, the Milan Court of Appeal emphasized that the persons who applied to the Scientology organization did not have the slightest idea that Scientology is a religion. In the verdict of the Milan Court of Appeal, reference was made to the testimony of witnesses, one of whom, in particular, drew attention to the name "church" and demanded clarification, since the son was a convinced Catholic. The answer to this question was that "the name 'church' was chosen only as a veil, and the organization has nothing to do with the church." Regardless of whether those who join a Scientology organization believed that this association was religious or not, in history one can find examples of organizations that had all the signs of a religious association and at the same time the signs of a criminal community. As stated in the Court's verdict, "In investigating the conduct of members of a Scientology organization and verifying whether that conduct is connected with the existence of a criminal association, it is not a question of determining whether the beliefs of that association are philosophical, religious, purely cultural, or not. It is immaterial to the legal order whether the doctrine advocated by L. Ron Hubbard since the 1950s should be called a religion (in the verdict of the Trent Court of Appeal of March 27, 1990, which the defense invoked to support its claims, Scientology is called a religion), since the legal order in any case protects all teachings, as well as the right to freedom of expression. The only question to be investigated and decided by the court concerns the methods used by the followers of L. Ron Hubbard in Italy to spread their ideas and gain new supporters, and whether the methods of Scientology amount to criminal acts and whether they were the result of a prior agreement between the organizers and instructions given by them. The Milan Court of Appeal recognized that there can be no doubt about the true nature and nature of the organization founded by Hubbard, which has no right to present its activities as exclusively philanthropic and aimed at the benefit of man. In making it mandatory for members of Scientology to donate funds for the services of Scientology and to increase the monthly income from donations by 10 percent, the court recognized that "nothing so sharply contradicts the principle of gratuitousness of a gift, which must be spontaneous on the part of the donor and be made in a self-determined amount, as a predetermined condition under which remuneration must be paid for each service rendered, Moreover, the amount of forced donation is even precisely established. Thus, these gifts should not be given importance, as is shown by the carefully calculated level of price increases (the same was also established in Narconon centers, where the price for the addict's stay was also indicated as a mandatory gift in a precisely defined amount)."[15] The court concluded that the main interest of the organization of Scientology was directed to the material resources of those who were interested in its professional services, and that the number of professional services offered by the Dianetics Institute was directly dependent on the financial means of the client: while the client still had money, he was constantly recommended more and more courses as necessary and at the same time regardless of illness. whether he was spasmodic like A, epileptic like B, or suffering from multiple atherosclerosis like witness C, or a real mental disorder like O, E, and R. On the other hand, if a client had no more money, no matter how serious, could persuade Scientologists to help him. In this regard, the verdict of the Court of Appeal emphasized that in one of the instructions Hubbard writes: "Perhaps you are interested in my secret: I give out huge sums of money to a lot of people and make a lot of money by it. My answer to any financial problem is that I make money. I'll teach you how to make a lot of money for an organization. Give away huge sums - and make money. In money, you have to be cunning. There is only money. You need to make money. And if you make money, you can have money. If you don't make money, you won't be able to have money. Money is not just waiting to be raised." The court verdict states: "the fact that the clients (as they were designated by the organization itself) were of interest only in the aspect of their property as sources of money that had to be squeezed out to the last drop, which is confirmed by the cards found in the organization. From the cards it is clear that the clients were distributed according to their economic capabilities and the wealth of their loved ones, as well as according to the ways of extorting as much money as possible from them. Moreover, millions on these cards are called units of measurement - kilograms. This is evidenced by the reference in the verdict to the cards of specific entries: "he owns 10 kilograms of state papers, which he can dispose of. Handle it harshly"; "I have already paid 10 kilograms. She has nothing in the bank, but she can still sell the house, which costs almost 100 kilograms, in addition, she has a land plot"; "She has 10 kilograms of government securities in the bank. She was a drug addict. It needs to be promoted in every possible way"; "His parents own a small business and quarreled with him. Treat rudely"; "He has about 18 kilograms on his account, with which he can pay for the entire academy. Do not let them go until death"; "She wants to quit her job and is ready to pay for the academy. Interrogate again and not let him out"; "She wants to buy herself a house (60 kilograms), you need to prevent this - she must pay the academy"; "He works in the public sphere and earns little. To influence him in order to get money"; "Fat prey and ready for anything for the sake of his daughter. He has money"; "She doesn't work, but she always has a checkbook with her"; "I must take a bank loan. In addition, you need to manipulate him a little, because he does not like to make debts." The Milan Court of Appeal also concluded that "the members of the organization, in their zeal to sell their services as many as possible and at the highest possible price, do not hesitate to take advantage of the feeble-mindedness of the people who have applied to the organization, and even to take coercive measures against them, that is, to practice depressive measures aimed at breaking the resistance of the unfortunates, who, after initial contact with the organization, try to back down or at least not pay for a more expensive rate." The court also found it established that the Church of Scientology had made impossible promises to seriously ill people for their treatment and recovery in order to raise money. In analysing the evidence gathered in the case, the Court of Milan acknowledged that "the activities of members of Scientology have consistently led to a series of crimes committed in the same scenario and according to the degree of resistance; In particular, this is the abuse of helplessness, extortion, fraud. All these criminal acts were committed in order to ensure that more and more money flowed into the organization's coffers by selling all kinds of services to all those who applied to the centers." In this connection, the Court found that "it has been proved that these criminal acts were planned and agreed upon from the outset, and that the plan was drawn up on the orders of a group of leaders in Italy. The criminal activities described above were carried out and developed through the fragmented structure of Scientology, i.e., the organization of centers, the provision of the required funds and the distribution of tasks. From this we can conclude about a real criminal organization" [15].

? In January 1997, the Milan Court of Appeal sentenced 29 members of the Church of Scientology to prison terms ranging from 9 to 20 months for criminal organization. The decision was made on Dec. 2 following an appeal by the Milan prosecutor's office against the acquittal of 67 of the 74 Scientologists six years ago. In the December court decision, the longest prison sentence of 20 months was given to Gabriel Segalla, who is believed to have brought Scientology to Italy [11]. Seven more Scientologists were sentenced to lighter penalties for exploiting mentally retarded people.

Canada

? In the case of Casey Hill v. the Church of Scientology, the Supreme Court of Canada in 1995 issued a decision that upheld the original verdict of the largest defamation fine in Canadian history ($1.6 million) to be paid by the sect: "Every episode of this case demonstrates the very real and ever-present malice of Scientology."

Russia

? In 1994, in the Resolution of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church "On Pseudo-Christian Sects, Neo-Paganism and Occultism" (December 1994) The "Church of Scientology" was called a pseudo-religion.

? From the very moment the Church of Scientology appeared in Russia, its activities were accompanied by negative responses in the press. Since then, scientists have repeatedly negatively assessed its activities. For example, in the Conclusion on the Licensing of the Non-State Educational Institution "Hubbard College on R and B Management" (1995) it was noted: "Taking into account that the teaching technology used by the College, on the one hand, does not represent anything fundamentally new in the field of world practice of teaching management, administration, and work with personnel (for example, the American school "Link", registered in Moscow, is moving in the same direction), but, on the other hand, the training of leaders in the college is carried out according to the technology of teaching L.R. Hubbard and is colored by the personality of this man who created the Church of Scientology, Scientology, Dianetics, therefore, in full accordance with the "Regulations on Licensing", documents clarifying the curriculum were involved in the examination... According to experts,... Hubbard's teaching cannot claim to be leading or promising, since it is a closed system and its initial axioms, as well as goals and methods, are not universal. They cannot be divided into the sphere of sciences, become an integral part of the concept of the Universe as a unity of nature-man-society. The method itself, the nature of treatment of the person (subordinate mechanical execution, orientation only to the instruction of the teacher, etc.) are aimed at the formation of a functionary, and not at a creative personality. The text of religious works, as well as books on R. Hubbard's technology of management, analyzed by experts as clarifying material, is emasculated, very normative, scientific, with a clearly expressed system of norms: in contrast to world religions, there is a manipuric level (origins in Zen Buddhism), where there is no love, no suffering, no disclosure of a person's inner potential. Hubbard's philosophy of religion is theosophy..."

? The Department of Public Relations of the Administration of the Nizhny Novgorod Region prepared and sent out, accompanied by a letter from the Director of the Department of Public Relations V.I. Lysov, the Information Material "L.R. Hubbard and the Organizations He Created" [18]. The cover letter, in particular, said: "At the request of the Department of Public Relations, a group of specialists has prepared material on the organizations created by the American writer L.R. Hubbard. Since most organizations are already operating in our region, we should expect, as was the case in other countries, negative consequences of these activities."

? In June 1996, Order No. 254 of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of the Russian Federation dated 19.06.1996 "On the Cancellation of the "Methodological Recommendations "Detoxification Program" prohibited the use of the detoxification program and other methods of Scientology and Dianetics in the Russian health care system, providing in the information material for this order an objective and reliable analysis of the real essence of the "Church of Scientology" and its affiliated organizations [16]: