New religion banned in Moscow

Hubbard Humanitarian Centre Outlawed By Moscow Court

Itar-Tass, February 15, 2000

MOSCOW, February 15 (Itar-Tass) - The ruling of the Ostankino Municipal Court of Moscow on recognizing as invalid the registration of the Hubbard Humanitarian Centre, a regional public organisation, came into force on Monday, a spokesman for the press service of the Moscow prosecutor's office told Tass.

The Moscow prosecutor lodged a corresponding claim last autumn. It was satisfied on October 6, but came into force only on February 14, after the court collegium on civil cases passed a resolution on it.

The press service spokesman said as well that a preliminary investigation on the case of the leader of a regional branch of the Habbard Centre under Article 171 of the Russian Criminal Code (illegal business activities) had been completed by the prosecutor's office of the North-Eastern

Administrative District of Moscow and would be referred to court. The Hubbard Centre was officially registered in Russian by the Scientological Church. It was actually a sectarian centre. In the opinion of Alexander Dvorkin, who handles the problem of religious sects at the Moscow Patriarchate, "this is a very dangerous sect. In Germany it was put under the control of the secret police. It is believed there that the Hubbard Centre is not a religious, but a commercial organisation, which is after power and money. In Greece it was outlawed early in 1998."

The organisation was named after Lafayette Ron Hubbard, American science fiction writer, who suffered from persecution mania and declared a war on what he described as "the world conspiracy of psychiatrists." He maintained, for example, that the massive extermination of Jews during the Second World War was organised not by the Nazi regime, but by "a secret union of German psychiatrist."