Editing Scientology and law (section)

=== France ===
{{See also|Scientology status by country#France|Scientology in France}}

In 1978, L. Ron Hubbard, creator of Scientology, was convicted for illegal business practices, namely, making false claims about his ability to cure physical illnesses. He was sentenced in absentia to four years in prison, which was never served.<ref name="critics">{{cite news |first=Lucy |last=Morgan |title=Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology |url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/32999/Worldandnation/Abroad__Critics_publi.html |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=March 29, 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522214354/http://www.sptimes.com/News/32999/Worldandnation/Abroad__Critics_publi.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/25/scientology-france-fraud| newspaper=The Guardian| access-date=2009-07-28|date=May 25, 2009 | location=London | title=Church of Scientology goes on trial in France | first=Lizzy | last=Davies}}</ref><ref name="smh">{{cite news| url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/church-of-scientology-on-trial-in-france-20090526-bl3s.html| newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]| access-date=2009-07-28|date=May 26, 2009| title=Church of Scientology on trial in France}}</ref>

In 1996, Jean-Jacques Mazier, then head of the Church of Scientology of Lyons, was convicted of fraud and involuntary homicide, and sentenced to 18 months in prison plus 18 months suspended and fined $100,000. Fourteen of 22 others charged with frauds were also convicted. The manslaughter charge was in connection with the 1988 death of Patrice Vic, who killed himself by jumping from a 12th-floor apartment after being pressured to borrow money to pay for yet another Scientology service. The victim's widow said her husband had been "subjected to psychological torture".{{r|critics}}<ref>{{cite news |title=French Scientologist Sentenced After Church Member's Suicide |date=November 23, 1996 |first=Craig R |last=Whitney |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/23/world/french-scientologist-sentenced-after-church-member-s-suicide.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030143306/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/23/world/french-scientologist-sentenced-after-church-member-s-suicide.html |archive-date=October 30, 2009}}</ref> Related to this trial, two other scientologists were convicted in Toulon for threatening a psychiatrist and expert witness in the trial.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scientology Is Fighting For Its Future in France |date=October 2, 1996 |first=Barry |last=James |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/02/IHT-scientology-is-fighting-for-its-future-in-france.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701181906/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/02/IHT-scientology-is-fighting-for-its-future-in-france.html |archive-date=July 1, 2023}}</ref>

In 1999, a Marseille court found five senior officials of the Church of Scientology guilty of fraud for "[[Purification Rundown|sham purification treatments]]" in Nice and Marseille. Xavier Delamare was sentenced to two years, partially deferred, and received a fine. Four others received suspended sentences of six months to two years, and two more were found not guilty. In a similar case in Lyons in 1997, six Scientologists had been given suspended prison sentences for fraud.<ref>{{cite news |title=French fraud case puts Scientology in the dock |date=September 21, 1999 |first=Jon |last=Henley |work=The Guardian |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A75888199/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=5d39030b}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A82992426/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=05e577b3 |title=Scientology church members convicted of fraud |publisher=The Scotsman |date=16 November 1999 |page=10 }}</ref>

In 2006, a French parliament report designated the Church of Scientology as a dangerous sect.{{r|smh}}

In 2009, a case went to trial in France, after a woman claims to have been pressured into paying €21,000 ($29,400) to the Church of Scientology for lessons, books and medicines for her poor mental state, accusing the Church of Scientology of "[[organized crime|organised fraud]]". Her lawyers argue that the church systematically seeks to make money through mental pressure and use scientifically dubious cures.<ref>
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8066743.stm "Scientology on trial in France"], ''[[BBC News]]'', May 25, 2009
</ref> Coincidentally, a large scale simplification of the laws in France occurred just prior to the beginning of the trial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000020604162 |title=LOI n° 2009-526 du 12 mai 2009 de simplification et de clarification du droit et d'allègement des procédures |language=fr |trans-title=LAW no. 2009-526 of May 12, 2009 on the simplification and clarification of the law and the streamlining of procedures |publisher=[[Légifrance]] |access-date=2012-06-26}}</ref> Suspicion was raised as the new law revision forbids the dissolution of a legal entity, an unadvertised change among hundreds of others. Dissolution was the main sentence requested by the prosecutor against the Church of Scientology in this trial, becoming unlawful as the law changed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maitre-eolas.fr/post/2009/09/15/Simplifions-le-droit-%3A-sauvons-la-Scientologie |title=Simplifions le droit : sauvons la Scientologie – Journal d'un avocat |language=fr |trans-title=Simplify the Law: Save Scientology |publisher=Maitre-eolas.fr |access-date=2012-06-26|date=September 15, 2009 }}</ref> On October 27, 2009, a verdict was rendered: six members of the CoS in France, and the Church itself, were convicted of fraud. Four of these, including Alain Rosenberg, were given suspended prison sentences. The Scientology Celebrity Center in Paris, a Scientology bookstore, and all six individual convicts were ordered to pay fines. The plaintiff's request for dissolution of the Church was not fulfilled.<ref>
{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/europe/28france.html?ref=world| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=2009-10-27|date=October 27, 2009 | title=French Branch of Scientology Convicted of Fraud | first=Steven | last=Erlanger}}
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