Health Ministry Asks Police to Shut Down Church of Scientology in Beslan

MosNews/October 12, 2004

A regional health ministry in southern Russia has asked the government and law enforcement authorities to help close down the Church of Scientology in Beslan, where hundreds of children died in a school hostage taking last month.

The North Ossetian Health Ministry said the activities not only of this church, but also other "sects" like Jehovah's Witnesses, which is offering humanitarian aid in the region, are dangerous, the Interfax news agency reported.

In a letter sent to federal authorities, the ministry said that various psychological tactics the groups use, including what it called hypnosis, may be harmful not only for adults, but for children that have already suffered severe mental shock.

Over 330 people - half of them children - died in the Beslan hostage drama that began when armed militants stormed a school on the first day of class.