Proceedings against Scientologists-run clinic instituted in Moscow

Interfax, Russia/April 6, 2007

Moscow -- Moscow’s South District office of public procurator instituted legal proceedings against the headship of the Narconon Standard narcological clinic that bases its methods on Scientology, the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reports on Friday.

According to the daily, this ideology is disallowed to be practiced in Russian medical institutions. However parents are often ready to use any chance to save their children from drug addiction.

The law enforcers started paying attention on the clinic after many complaints about too high fees being charged for the treatment were made.

According to the complainants, the clinical psychologists said high fees were required for ‘training,’ as they called a rehabilitation course, during which the heroin addiction was replaced with the psychological addiction to Scientology.

For example, a patient gave over 60,000 rubles to Scientologist, though in this case everything was done legally with all necessary stamps and signatures present, the daily said.

During a search in the Narconon office in Bolshaya Tulskaya St., Moscow, the procurator’s office and federal security officers seized some documents and unidentified medications, which might be strong psychotropic drugs used to control the drug addicted teens’ consciousnesses in order to convert them to Scientology, the daily added.