HAMBURG, Germany — It would take something like an invasion of space aliens — maybe something out of an L. Ron Hubbard science fiction novel — to match the climate of fear and mutual suspicion that prevails between the Church of Scientology that Mr. Hubbard created and its frightened opponents in Germany. "Fear is part of their system — it's a totalitarian organization that seeks to control everybody else, a dictatorship," said Ursula Caberta y Diaz, who heads the four-member working ...

TEENAGER David McLaren is in hiding, after breaking free from the Scientology cult. "I'm the one who got away," said the brave 18-year-old, who came forward to help Scots girl Christine Forsyth. "I found freedom, now I want Christine to enjoy that same freedom", he said. Last week we told the shocking story of how 24-year-old Christine, from Kirkcaldy, was "tried" for "treason" by the mind-bending cult. HER CRIME WAS SPEAKING TO AN "OUTSIDER". Christine's distraught dad begged the cult to ...

A CO TIPPERARY family claim an American cult is holding their brother 'prisoner' with the help of mind-control techniques. P. J. Phelan, an agricultural consultant who works in Nenagh, his father and three sisters have vowed to "fight to the end" to "release" their brother Tony (33), who became involved with the Church of Scientology shortly after his mother's death in 1989. "I would warn anyone thinking of becoming involved in Dianetics or Scientology not to get involved. Don't tough it ...

A BRISTOL man is suing an organisation which he claims taught him to lie and reject his family, whilst charging him over £7,000 for the pleasure. John Simpson, aged 24, (not his real name) is a former member of the controversial cult of the Church of Scientology or Dianetics, as it is otherwise known. He finally 'escaped' last month after seven months in the group. If you had quizzed him last year about his involvement with Scientology, he would probably have ...

Security was stepped up at Hull University this week when psychologists met to discuss the growth of cults and their mind-control techniques. Conference organiser Barry Hart admits he was not expecting the outburst he received from groups such as the Scientologists. "They said our conference was prejudiced," Dr Hart said. "I am prejudiced against destructive and damaging cults, but I certainly didn't expect this backlash." Liberal peer Lord McNair wrote to Hull University's vice chancellor claiming that the conference was an ...

Rick Ross, self-confessed "cult deprogrammer" and ATF advisor in the Waco holocaust has been charged, in the United States, with the 1991 abduction of a Christian teenage boy. Ross and his accomplices, Mark Workman and Charles Simpson, were charged in July with unlawful imprisonment in the abduction of Jason Scott. If convicted they face a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. The charges against the three were the most recent in a string of legal actions brought against deprogrammers by ...

DECLARATION OF MARGERY WAKEFIELD I, Margery Wakefield, having personal knowledge of the following, hereby declare: 1. I was a member of the Church of Scientology of California from October of 1968 until February of 1980. I joined the Church in Los Angeles, California, where I was primarily based although I also took courses and/or worked at Church organizations in St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia and Miami, Florida. 2. While in Scientology I progressed to the level of OT 3 (an ...

Last week cult expert Jon Caven-Atack set up a meeting in Exmouth and persuaded a member of the Church of Scientology to return to her family. The Echo's Peter Hardy now talks to the man who has dedicated his life to exposing cults which he says brainwash their members. FOR NINE years, former rock drummer Jon Caven-Atack was under the spell of a "religious" sect known as the Church of Scientology. Now, outside the cult, Jon has pledged his life and ...

A RELIGIOUS cult member was persuaded to rejoin her family during a dramatic secret meeting in Exmouth, the Express & Echo can reveal. The daring rescue bid was set up after the family consulted experts opponents of the Church of Scientology, which has been accused of employing brainwashing techniques to win over some of its followers. Now the girl, a science graduate, is safe at a secret address, thought to be in the north of the country, after the successful reunion ...

Have you ever been stopped on Dizengoff by a friendly, earnest young person inviting you to take a free personality lest? Did he or she mention the possibility of learning more about yourself at a special "college?" If the answer is yes, you may well have been stopped by one of Israel's Scientologists. "Osnat" and "Yaron" (not their real names) are two youngsters who did decide to take the test. Osnat, the daughter of an observant Jewish family, was 17 when ...

Two American cult-busters recently flew to Australia to try to reclaim a young man from Scientology. JACQUI MACDONALD watched as they tried to unlock his mind, hour by hour, inch by inch. The names of the family and the cult-busters have been changed. FOR TWO days Peter Nolan has rehearsed how to greet his son. Peter and his wife Mary have planned how they will open the flywire front door and smile at the son they have not seen for several ...

Internal documents from the Church of Scientology, the parent organisation of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, indicate that behind the church's public battle to expose abuses of psychiatric patients lies a hidden plan of retribution. The documents contain evidence that some Australian Scientologists apparently have remained committed to a 30-year-old doctrine of revenge and intimidation against people the church describes as enemies. And while church members in Australia have been speaking out against psychiatric abuse, courts in the United States ...

Doris Braine says the transformation of her Patty Jo was heartbreaking. "It was," she said, "like my darling daughter had died." Before Patty Jo went to work for the Church of Scientology at the age of 20, she had been "fun and pretty and a joy to be with," recalled her 72-year-old mother. "Suddenly, she became a totally different person, shooting fire from her eyes." There were those hateful looks, and the dozens of letters that Patty Jo returned unopened. For ...

After eight years at Headquarters, I am "moving on" to other work. My duties as Director of Public Affairs will be handled by Taj. Hamad and Linda Shapiro although I will try to continue to work, with many of the contacts I have made/over the years. For me, they are much more than professional contacts—they are my friends. Thus, my change in mission does not mean I will forget my friends. Those relationships will continue and hopefully flourish for many years ...