In a historic decision, a Spanish court has dismissed all charges against all
defendants in a case involving Scientologists that dates back to 1984. The
Madrid Provincial Court announced the acquittals today two months after the
close of a seven-month trial that began more than seventeen years after the
case was opened.
The court stated in its ruling, "Neither the defendants individually, nor
collectively, nor through the Church of Scientology, nor through Narconon
[drug rehabilitation program]... have committed any type of illicit act,
and therefore they are acquitted of all charges brought by the public
prosecutor."
"This is a complete victory for the Church of Scientology and Scientologists
in Spain, and a vindication of our religious ministry and social betterment
programs," said Luis Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Church of Scientology.
"After exhaustive scrutiny, the court has declared the prosecutor's case
to be entirely groundless."
He said the victory will also free up resources to increase the Church's
religious ministry and drug education campaigns. Scientologists, who are
themselves 100% drug-free, donate their time every week to drug prevention
efforts throughout the country.
Mr. Gonzalez described the ruling as "a giant step for Spain as a European
democracy, acknowledging that religious plurality is a vital part of today's
society.
"The Spanish Court refused to be led into a modern-day inquisition but
looked at the facts and came to the only possible conclusion. Today's ruling
will have major, positive influence for the Church throughout Europe."
More than 100 witnesses testified during the trial. Their testimony, including
that by many of the prosecutor's own witnesses, showed that the entire case was
an effort to manipulate the police and judiciary.
Since the case began in 1984, the Church has achieved full tax exemption as a
religious and charitable organization in the United States, religious
recognition in countries including Canada, Sweden and South Africa, dismissal
of a long-standing case in Italy and religious recognition by that country's
Supreme Court, and scores of other positive rulings by judicial and
administrative bodies throughout the world.
Briefing: Scientology Case in Spain
The following is a briefing on the case involving Scientologists in Spain
that was dismissed today by the Madrid Provincial Court following a
seven-month trial.
The investigation that ultimately resulted in this trial began in 1984.
The case is now more than 17 years old. This is well in excess of the seven
years the European Court of Human Rights has held in other cases to be a human
rights abuse on grounds of slow justice. The prosecutor, Ladron de Cegama,
permitted his personal prejudices to overpower any concept of human
rights, impartial administration of justice, and the principles of the Spanish
Constitution.
The investigation began due to false allegations made to the police by a
former Scientologist who was trying to foment dissent among Scientologists and
cause them to join a dissident organization he had formed for his own
personal gain. This former Scientologist later withdrew his original claims and
admitted in a sworn statement that the allegations he had made were false.
In November 1988, four years after the investigation opened, 70 Scientologists
were arrested for unspecified offenses while attending a convention. In
November 1991, the National Court in Spain reviewed the case and threw out the
fraud charges.
The case dragged on, and trial did not begin until February 6, 2001. On
April 5, the court, finding serious irregularities in the conduct of the
prosecution, dismissed all the charges against the defendants except one, that
of
illegal association. The court also found that significant parts of the
evidence-gathering activities of the police, such as wiretaps placed on Church
and
Scientologists' telephones, were illegal.
The prosecutor presented more than 60 witnesses. Their testimony has
confirmed that the original complaints made against the Church in 1984,
and on which the case is based, were false. Their evidence showed that the
charges were made to manipulate the police and judiciary into attacking
Scientology.
Many of the prosecutor's own witnesses have refuted the allegations in
his writ. For example, Ladron presented doctors and psychiatrists to testify
as expert witnesses about the drug rehabilitation program Narconon, which
uses principles developed by L. Ron Hubbard. His own experts ended up agreeing
with the defense experts that Narconon is beneficial and undeniably successful.
Since the case started, the Church has achieved full religious recognition and
tax exemption in the United States, Sweden, South Africa, and Venezuela. The
Spanish tax authorities agreed in 1991 that our churches don't have to pay
income tax.