Full source

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)

“Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae”—Julius Ceasar.[*]

[* Of all [the Gaulish peoples], the Belgians are the strongest!]

Unlawful practices in medicine.  I like that.

Reminds me of the rumor regarding John Travolta not getting help for his autistic son, Jett.  Apparently, the $cientologists view autism as a mental ilness and the teenager has never received treatment because to do so would admit that he is “defective” in some way.  John’s own brother has appealed to him to get help for the boy who is rarely seen in public.

The Scientologists have an army of very competent lawyers whose main tactic is counterattack, not defense. It wouldn’t surprise me if this never ends up in court :-(

Yes, but on the other hand the Belgian Juridical System is quite different from that of the USA. Their lawyers can’t sue people like they do in the US.

Perhaps the Co$ should threaten to pull out of Belgium entirely and leave them at the mercy of their engrams?

As LaMa said, You can’t use the same tactics here as in the US.
It is a criminal case of the Belgian state against Scientology and some of its members after an investigation asked for by several people. (Meaning suing those people won’t do anything for this case. )

First of, there is a difference in the charges of conducting criminal activities and being a criminal organisation. It’s almost certain the first kind of charges will be pressed, otherwise the prosecutor wouldn’t be recommending a trial.
Suing the Belgian federal government about this matter can’t be done inside Belgium at the moment because there already is a case (criminal practices). Scientology is not a forbidden group in Belgium (laws of religious freedom). Grounds for a case about discrimination are very small (but might be used in court defence).
NOTE of the author: Scientology claims there is a climate of intolerance and discrimination. However, while sects are frowned upon (and Scientology considered one), they are tolerated in Belgium as part of the strong public opinion about free speech.

They will have to wait until after the judge has come to a verdict at the Regional Court, then there can be one appeal at the court of appeal about the criminal charges, after that there is the Court of Cassation which can only judge whether no laws have been broken and no rights ignored. Here is the full version: Organisation of justice - Belgium (warning: legalese might cause insanity and/or a headache )

The option for a counterattack as I see it is to go for the religious freedom. After all, the European court for Human rights declared Scientology members to be able to practice their beliefs (5 april 2007). But again, this is a criminal case, and they still have to go trough the Court of Cassation before they are allowed to appeal with any European court.

However. This trail will be a very strong precedent, both in Belgium and Europe (and perhaps even internationally), no matter how it turns out. And, if Scientology is found guilty, inside Belgium in will be a very solid ground to make them a forbidden organisation,  similar to the Hell’s Angels in Belgium and Germany. Either as a judgment in this case or as a separate trial.

We’re in for a couple of years of news about this.

Personally, I think they should be considered criminal, not only are some of their believes worrying but they tend to stalk people and drive people crazy.

I love Belgium. I really do.

They’re clever buggers the lot of them. Tenacious, hard going, vastly intelligent and never give up. You don’t notice they’re there but they’re more important than you can imagine. Essentially, they’re like a nation of Jack Russel terriers.

Best time of my life was in Bruges. I’d go back there in a second.

Only reason I’m doing European Law is to be better enabled to land a job in Brussels and live there

And now France is getting in on the act:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8066743.stm

Scientology on trial in France

The Church of Scientology has gone on trial in the French capital, Paris, accused of organised fraud.

The case centres on a complaint by a woman who says she was pressured into paying large sums of money after being offered a free personality test.

The church, which is fighting the charges, denies that any mental manipulation took place.

France regards Scientology as a sect, not a religion, and the organisation could be banned if it loses the case.

It is the first time the church has appeared as a defendant in a fraud case in France. Previous court cases have involved individual Scientologists.

Books and medication

The woman at the centre of this case says she was approached by church members in Paris more than 10 years ago, and offered a free personality test. But, she says, she ended up spending 21,000 euros ($29,400,

Nice. Go France!

We had a case in the UK some years ago, the name of which I’ll find later, where the UK attempted to criminalise the CoS in order to provide a basis to expel a CoS member, who was a foreign national, from the country. However, the ECJ ruled that they didn’t need to do that to chuck someone out so they never bothered going through with it.

Nameless - 05 September 2007 04:21 PM

Personally, I think they should be considered criminal, not only are some of their believes worrying but they tend to stalk people and drive people crazy.

Exactly why I’m not so fond of them. They’re like whiny babies who, every time something negative about them comes up, come up with elaborate plots to incriminate those people. Just look at Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout, and the whole “Attack the Attacker” policy.