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RUSSIAN COURT UPHOLDS RULE TO BAN SCIENTOLOGY BOOKS
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 21, 2012 - 19:08 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A Moscow regional court upheld a lower court's ruling
to ban books on Scientology by the group's founder, L. Ron Hubbard,
on grounds of inciting extremism, the tvrain internet channel said
on Wednesday, March 21, RIA Novosti reported.
Scientology, founded by Hubbard in the U.S. in the early 1950s,
is one of the most controversial religious movements of the past
century and is often described as a cult. A court in Shchyolkovo in
Moscow region first banned Hubbard's books last June.
Hubbard's books on Scientology "seek to form an isolated social group
whose members are trained to perform their functions generally aimed
against the rest of the world," the court said in its ruling.
Russian regional courts have upheld and dismissed rulings against
Hubbard's books since 2010.
"No other country [but Russia] looks for extremism in religious
literature," Scientology supporters have said.
Scientology is treated with caution in many countries. France has
recognized it as a totalitarian sect and the Church of Scientology
in France has been fined for making its members spend exorbitant
sums of money on tests and vitamins. Germany has branded Scientology
as unconstitutional.
The group has a strong following in Hollywood and its adherents
include actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise.
The U.S. government commission on religious freedom (USCIRF) put
Russia on a watch list of countries requiring "close monitoring" in
its 2012 annual report on Tuesday, for reasons including its actions
against Scientology.
Earlier on Wednesday, a court in Tomsk, Siberia, turned down a
prosecutor's appeal to classify as extremist a Russian translation
of Bhagavad Gita As It Is, a commentary on a Hindu philosophy book,
ending a long legal battle over the text.
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 21, 2012 - 19:08 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - A Moscow regional court upheld a lower court's ruling
to ban books on Scientology by the group's founder, L. Ron Hubbard,
on grounds of inciting extremism, the tvrain internet channel said
on Wednesday, March 21, RIA Novosti reported.
Scientology, founded by Hubbard in the U.S. in the early 1950s,
is one of the most controversial religious movements of the past
century and is often described as a cult. A court in Shchyolkovo in
Moscow region first banned Hubbard's books last June.
Hubbard's books on Scientology "seek to form an isolated social group
whose members are trained to perform their functions generally aimed
against the rest of the world," the court said in its ruling.
Russian regional courts have upheld and dismissed rulings against
Hubbard's books since 2010.
"No other country [but Russia] looks for extremism in religious
literature," Scientology supporters have said.
Scientology is treated with caution in many countries. France has
recognized it as a totalitarian sect and the Church of Scientology
in France has been fined for making its members spend exorbitant
sums of money on tests and vitamins. Germany has branded Scientology
as unconstitutional.
The group has a strong following in Hollywood and its adherents
include actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise.
The U.S. government commission on religious freedom (USCIRF) put
Russia on a watch list of countries requiring "close monitoring" in
its 2012 annual report on Tuesday, for reasons including its actions
against Scientology.
Earlier on Wednesday, a court in Tomsk, Siberia, turned down a
prosecutor's appeal to classify as extremist a Russian translation
of Bhagavad Gita As It Is, a commentary on a Hindu philosophy book,
ending a long legal battle over the text.