Despite cries of religious discrimination, the Cour de Cassation upholds guilty verdict

Oct 17, 2013 13:49 GMT  ·  By

In France, the Church of Scientology is fraudulent. Though recognized as a religion in the US, Spain, and Sweden, Scientology has just been branded a fraud by France’s highest court, despite cries of religious discrimination.

Above is a video report from the AFP.

Scientology boasts 45,000 members in the country but it came under serious fire in 2009, when 5 of these members accused it of manipulating them into spending thousands of Euros on official books and merchandise.

The initial verdict was guilty, but the Church appealed to the Cour de Cassation in the hope that it might be overturned. It wasn’t, even though its members were more than diligent in trying to prove the organized fraud accusation infringed on their religious liberties.

“Scientology is a worldwide religious movement practiced in 184 nations. Its bona fides and the rights of its members to practice their faith unimpeded by government interference have been acknowledged by the high courts of many nations, including unanimous decisions by the European Court of Human Rights,” a statement from the French Church of Scientology after the verdict reads.

They plan on taking the case to a higher, international legal authority.