A Greek court rejected an appeal by KEFE, the Greek arm of Scientology, which marked the final blow to the organization in that country. KEFE must now close down and liquidate its assets.

According to Apogevmatini [January 4, 1998], a Greek newspaper, the court described KEFE in its verdict as a totalitarian organization whose aims are power and money, and to that end uses dangerous techniques which brainwash its members, teach the promotion of ruthlessness, and damage critics' reputations.

The court also said KEFE is not a religion and its use of "auditing," "purification," and other methods is illegal because of the dangers posed to those receiving them. According to the verdict, "It was fully proven that the participation in KEFE brings a personality change to the member, in his behavior towards others and especially to his family relations, which sometimes are completely broken because of their negative attitude towards Scientology...

"It was fully proven that KEFE is an organization with totalitarian

structures and trends, which essentially despises man, acts freely 'in phenomenon' in order to attract members, who are then subjected... into a brain wash... (basic positions of the Scientology founder's theories), so that we are standing in front of beings with no personal will, who have lost the capacity of making decisions as products of their free will, since they have passed through the propaganda filters of Scientology and the suitable processing, become susceptible to the 'truths' it applies, without having motives to examine and evaluate".