SCIENTOLOGY SUES RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Alexander L. Dvorkin St. Irinaeus of Lyon Center Petrovka St, 28/2, Moscow, 103051, Russia Phone: 7-095-928-7874. Fax: 7-095-209-6815 E-mail: iriney@glas.apc.org

Jan. 1, 1997

TO ALL MY FRIENDS:

I would like to inform you that in November 1996 the former dissident and human rights champion Mr. Gleb Yakunin filed a lawsuit against me accusing me of slandering legally registered in Russia religious organizations, which I call "totalitarian cults", The publication in question is the brochure 10 Questions to an Obtrusive Stranger Or a Handbook for Those Who do not Want to be Recruited into a Destructive Cult. I wrote this brochure in 1995 and the same year it was published by the Department of Religious Education and Catechism of Moscow Patriarchate. In the brochure I have tried to outline the characteristic feature of the destructive cults and to show how they are different from the legitimate bonafide organizations and traditional confessions. In writing I used several western publications, particularly a book by Stephen Hassan Combating Cult Mind Control , Jean Ritchie, The Secret World of Cults, and others.

1. Since my opponents have been widely publishing some twisted interpretations of the facts of my biography, I will briefly tell my story. I was born in 1955 in Moscow. In 1977 I for political reasons emigrated to the US. I was deprived of Soviet citizenship and was stateless for 6 years when I received American citizenship. In America I received a BA degree in Russian literature from Hunter College of the City University of New York, Master of Divinity from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, and Ph.D. in Medieval History from Fordham University. I have taught in several schools of higher education and published a number of scholarly articles and one monograph, published as a book. I have worked at the Voice of America Radio Station in Washington, DC as a script writer and broadcaster and Radio Liberty in Munich, Germany as an editor of the news desk. On Dec. 31 1991 with the blessing of my late spiritual father Rev. John Meyendorff 1 returned to Russia and have been living here since. At the present moment I still hold US citizenship and a Russian residence permit. As of March 1992 I have been on the staff of Department of Religious Education of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. I have been teaching Church History at the Russian Orthodox University and Sectology at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Institute. In 1993 I formed the St. Irenaeus of Lyon Information and Consultation Center which studies the New Religious Movements (NRM) and spreads information about them. The Center works with the blessing of our Church authorities. In these years it has become known throughout Russia and in many foreign countries. The philosophy of work that our Center holds is that the true freedom of choice is impossible without the freedom of information. At the moment of recruitment the cults never provide full information about themselves, and thus their victim often finds himself in an organization he or she knows virtually nothing about. This way his of her constitutional right on the freedom of information is being violated and he or she cannot make a truly informed choice. We are convinced that if most of the cult victims could have in time received true information about the organization in which they are members of, they would never have joined them.

Mr. Yakunin, a former priest of the Moscow Patriarchate, was defrocked in 1994 for grossly violating the canons of the Church.Yakunin did not recognize his defrocking and joined the so-called "Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate". The latter is considered by the world Orthodox community to be a schismatic jurisdiction. It is headed the by self-styled "patriarch of Kiev and all Ukraine Philaret - Mikhail Denisenko, formerly the Metropolitan of Kiev of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1992 he was defrocked by the Church for gross moral conduct and collaboration with the KGB. At present Mr. Denisenko has forged close ties with the Unification Church of S. M. Moon, and has even sent his personal representative, one "Archimandrite" Vikenty Myskov to read the opening prayers at the beginning of the convocation of the International Family Foundation on October 15, 1996 in Moscow, and to bless the assembly. It is interesting that previously Yakunin time and again criticized the Metropolitan of Kiev Philaret for his moral conduct and his KGB connections using the code name "Antonov". But as soon as the defrocked Mr. Denisenko formed his own pseudo-church structure separate from the Moscow Patriarchate, Mr. Yakunin overnight turned into his dedicated defender. In 1994 Yakunin was elected to the Duma (lower chamber of the Russian Parliament), but soon became notorious for his participation in a number of not so attractive and scandalous incidents. In 1996 he was not re-elected. Now he heads a private non-profit organization Public Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Conscience. The Committee has a history of campaigning for the number of destructive cults, including the Jehovah's Witnesses, Moonies, and Scientologists (when the Minister of public Health issued a ban on scientology in public medicine, Yakunin wrote a series of protests against this "discriminatory" act, accusing me personally of masterminding it). In fact it is this Committee which has filed a law suit against me, and Yakunin signed it as chairman of it.

3. The "statement of claim for defending honor, dignity and business reputation" mentions that my brochure is insulting in contents and style towards the religious organizations registered by the Ministry of Justice and legally functioning on the territory of Russia. The plaintiff notes that I maliciously call these legal organizations "totalitarian sects" and "destructive cults" and mentions by name five of them: "International Society of Krishna Consciousness, the Unification Church, the Church o Scientology, the Mother of God Center, Aum Shinrikyo, and others". The plaintiff believes that the following information that 1 provide in the brochure is false and defamatory: I claim that the cults take property from their members, while the Committee does not know a single court verdict against members of the above mentioned religious organizations for the crimes against property. I claim that cults use violence towards their members, while in Russia there is no single court verdict against members of the above mentioned religious organizations for such kinds of crimes. I claim that the goal of all totalitarian cults is to obtain power, while again in Russia there is not a single court verdict against sects for the crimes against the state.

And finally the plaintiff finds particularly defamatory a following statement of mine: "the totalitarian cults will not hesitate to lie, steal, cheat, or control the mind of its members, to slander the officials and the public figures who try to counteract them, and even to destroy physically a perceived enemy or a group of them. In fact, we are dealing with Mafia-like structures. .."

The plaintiff claim" that the information I provide in the brochure discredits "new religious organizations" because I imply that they are in fact criminal organizations and that their members commit illegal actions which harms the honor and dignity of indefinite number of an people - members of the religious movements and the reputation of the religious movements themselves. The plaintiff demands "to recognize the aforementioned data about the criminal activity of the non-traditional religious organizations and their members as false".

On Dec. 16 my lawyer, Mrs. Geralina Lyubarskaya and I met with the Judge Lyudmila Saltykova in her office. There also was present a representative of the plaintiff Mr. Mikhail Osadchev and the lawyer of the plaintiff Ms. Galina Krylova. Previously Ms. Krylova has defended Aum Shinrikyo in court and presently she defends CARP (i. e. the Moonies) in an ongoing trial in St. Petersburg. My lawyer, Mrs. Lyubarskaya, filed the petition that neither Mr. Yakunin nor his Committee are mentioned in my brochure, and thus, being a third person, have no right to sue me on behalf of somebody else. The judge has disregarded our claim, and said that the scientologists and the Hare Krishna's are in any case standing at the door to file their own law suits. The judge has recognized the Department of Religious Education and Catechism of the Moscow Patriarchate, who published my brochure and holds the copyright, as my co-defendant.

Since then 1 have received three more statements of claim - one from a Hare Krishna member, one from a scientologist, and the third - from a group of scientologists. Their arguments basically repeat those of the first statement with two additional features,. They all quote one more phrase from my brochure, where I say that the traditional historic confessions are culture-productive - they contribute great deal to the society where they exist, while the cults can only take from society, giving nothing back. What can they do, - ask I, - except beg on the streets for many hours? All of the three new plaintiffs exclaim that the members of their religions never ever beg on the streets. Moreover, the scientologists say that the groups of them went to different areas of disasters and have helped the victims using Hubbard methodologies. The author of the second statement, a scientologist Mr. Titovchenko, states a financial claim to me. He introduces himself as a staff worker of the "Church of Scientology". He says that publication of my book caused a worsening, of his relations with his former wife (sic! A. D.), with a close friend, other friends and acquaintances. Mr. Titovclienko values this "moral harm" at 55 million roubles ($ 10000).

The case turns out to be very serious. lt is the first of its kind in Russia and it has no precedents. Basically, it is Yakunin, Scientology and Hare Krishna vs. Dvorkin and Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. What is at stake is the possibility of the Church to have her own position about the cults: I say nothing in my brochure which was not said in the decision of the Bishops Council of the Church on the new religious culls (November 1994). Of course, the cults (and first of all and foremost the most aggressive of them - Scientology) do not care so much about my brochure, but rather more about my overall activity. Over the 4 years that I have headed the St. Ironies of Lyon Center I have made at least two hundred fifty publications in over 10 languages on NRM (including 3 books), have lectured extensively throughout Russia and some other countries, have conducted at least 15 Seminars and conferences, have frequently appeared on TV and radio, have consulted a number of leading mass media companies, Russian governmental figures (both on local and federal levels) and parliament deputies. The last blow that Scientologists took very badly was the order of the Minister of Health of Russia, prohibiting the use of any scientological methods within the realm of public medicine (June 1996). The order which brought a considerable harm to Scientologists they charged between $ 1000 and $ 1500 for purification rundown - was issued after two years campaigning by the St. Irinaeus of Lyon Center. The hate campaign against me began in the Spring of 1996 when a popular TV program Vremechko aired a crudely fabricated show which accused me of being a CAN agent in Russia, kidnapping people and forcefully converting them to Orthodoxy. The show which was obviously sponsored by scientology, was so crudely done that we were able to threaten Vremechko with a lawsuit and force them within a week's time to offer their apologies and to read our 3-minute statement on the air. In August of 1996 I learned that the representatives of the scientology-connected L. A. law firm Moxon and Bartelson (this is the firm that have ruined CAN) contacted my friends and acquaintances in the US trying to find compromising and embarrassing information about me. About that time the newspapers that have published my articles were flooded by letters the authors of which accused me of all conceivable sins. A very simple investigation shows that all of them were inspired by scientology. As of the Fall of 1996 the number of publications against me and St. Irenaeus Center began to increase. Lately, such newspapers as Moscow News and Kuranty have published negative articles about me ("a man inciting religious hatred", "CAN agent", "a pupil of notorious fighter against religious freedom Aagaard", etc.) preparing the atmosphere for the court process. They have bluntly refused to publish mine and Dr. Aagaard's responses with a refutation of the false statements. Yakunin's pocket newspaper Express-Khronika constantly pours buckets of dirt on me. Of course, I must add that some other newspapers (Commersant Daily, Vek, etc.) published articles in support of us.

On December 27 1996 a Duma Deputy Valery Borschov (Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee of Public and Religious Organizations) conducted a round table on the topic "About actions of several state structures against the constitutional principle of the freedom of consciousness". They have planned it as a gathering of like-minded persons, but I found out about it and was able to attend. The gathering had one goal: through disavowal of the anti-scientological order of the Ministry of Health and the Information Material about cults published by the Ministry of Interior and compromising the anti-cult movement to torpedo the adoption of the new federal law on the freedom of consciousness (the proposed draft attempts very mildly to control the activity of new religious movements and proselytizing groups). The "independent NRM experts" invited by the Round Table were Mr. Sergey Ivanenko with well known Moonies connections and Mr. Marat Sterin who is the pupil and the follower of Ms. Eileen Barker - a supposedly independent cult expert who actually had to admit, though unwillingly, that she was financed by the cults. In their lengthy statements both Mr. Ivanenko and Mr. Sterin said that the only problem with the cults is the anti-cult movement, which invented myths about mind control and other supposed crimes of non-traditional religions. It is the anti-cult movement which alone is to blame for the tragedies of Jonestown and Waco. Mr. Yakunin said that the only totalitarian cult he knows is the Russian Orthodox Church and that America will never allow Russia to accept a "discriminatory" religious legislation, Then spoke Mr. A. Pchelintsev, the director of a small private non-governmental Institute of Religion and State (supported by Baptists). He spoke mostly about me, accusing me of inciting religious hatred and alarmist tendencies and proposing that I, as a foreign citizen, must be handcuffed and within 24 hours escorted out of Russia. Mr. Sergey Zuev, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Russian branch of ISKCON, fully agreed with this proposal, saying that I single handedly began an anti-cult hysterical crusade in Russia., that I personally stand behind every governmental anti NRM decision and that he lays a personal responsibility on me for assaults on groups of Hare Krishna's which happened in Rostov and Krasnodar (South Russia). Many other statements had similar messages. And that is in spite of the fact that in my brochure 1 state in bold letters that the cultists are victims of mind control techniques and must be treated with patience and compassion. So, that is how the year of 1996 ends for me. Once more I repeat that this legal process that lies ahead of us bears the utmost importance: the cults for the first time try their strength in Russia. They want to show that they are the new factor in Russian reality and they are to be reckoned with. They want to see how much their enemies are united, and whether it is possible to destroy them one by one. What is at stake are such important democratic values as the freedom of expression and freedom of information in Russia. We have the right to express our opinion about cults and to inform the citizens of Russia about their illegal activities and about totalitarian tendencies both in their teaching and in their practice. The citizens of Russia have the right to receive this information. However, this right is seen by the cults as an obstacle in their thriving for power in our country. That is where lies the true meaning of this litigious court case initiated by them. If we lose it, it will create a precedent to deny us and the citizens of Russia our inalienable rights. So we are destined to win! I ask for your prayers, for your help in any way you can see fit, including information support, political support and donations to cover our legal expenses. I'11 keep you informed about future events.

Feb. 25, 1997. Now, by the end of February, new developments are the following:

1.His Holiness Patriarch Alexey II has expressed the personal interest in this case and blessed his vicar - His Eminence Tikhon, bishop of Bronnitsa and the head of the Publications council of the Russian Orthodox Church - to enter the case on my side. So, at present there are three co-defendants - Alexander Dvorkin, Department of Religious Education and Catechism and the Publications Council of the ROC.

2.The number of plaintiffs has also increased. At present there are in total 28 of them. Besides Yakunin's Committee and one Hare Krishna woman the rest are individual Scientologists. It is interesting that the cults themselves do not risk to file their statements of claim, but rather order their members to do it. All new statements, which supposed to be filed spontaneously, are in fact identical, safe one. This one, written by certain scientologist, Mr. Gorko, is rather unique, because it reveals the true feelings of cultists to me. "How come you still alive, Mr. Dvorkin?" - asks he at some point in his statement of claim. I perceive it as a real menace to my life.

3. The "Moscow church of scientology" has published my "biography" called "Dvorkin the Terrible as a Religious Type", accusing me of fanaticism, incompetence and criminal connections with CAN. They send it throughout Moscow to whoever might be interested.

4.Three co-defendants conducted a press-conference on January 31 which was widely attended by the journalists and was followed by a number of articles and TV reports in our favor. Only Paris-based weekly "Russkaya Mysl" published 3 very aggressive and negative articles about us.

5.Russian PEN Club has expressed strong support of us and appointed a writer and poet Mrs. Olesya Nikolaeva to be my representative in court.

6.There is a wide spontaneous campaign of writing the letters of support of our case. So far, we received letters of support with over 10000 signatures from throughout Russia and that is only a beginning! I also received a letter of support from the Syndesmos - a pan-Orthodox youth organization.

7.Over all, the plaintiffs seem to be in confusion. They did not expect such massive Church support of me and now find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation. Their goal was to win the case and to show that I do not represent the opinion of the Church, which, they believed, stands on a more "constructive" positions. But now they found themselves suing the Orthodox Church itself which makes a very bad PR for them. The Russian public opinion remembers very well the Communist trials when the Church was placed in the dock. The Hare Krishna's are writing huge amount of letters to all Church authorities asking to open an official dialog with them and promising in exchange to convince their believer to recall her statement of claim from the court. Otherwise they threaten to file many more statements of claim. However, the Russian Orthodox Church which has an ongoing dialogue with all traditional religious bodies, would not dialogue with the impostors.

8.The Bishops Council of the ROC, which met in Moscow February 18-23 has anathematized (excommunicated) Mr. Yakunin and Mr. Denisenko (formerly Metropolitan Philaret) for they schismatic and anti-Church activities. Both of them declared that they do not accept this decision.

9.The judge Lyudmila Saltykova of Horoshovsky District Court of Moscow has set the date of the first court hearing on April 3, 1997.