Notice: Undefined index: et_header_layout in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1345

Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1345

Notice: Undefined index: et_header_layout in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1346

Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1346

Notice: Undefined index: et_template in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1347

FRANCE: MIVILUDES President resigns over Fonds Marianne scandal

Another obnoxious story of taxpayers’ money liberally distributed to dubious associations hit Christian Gravel, who had to leave the French anti-cult mission.

by Massimo Introvigne

Bitter Winter (09.06.2023) – “Piscis primum a capite foetet”: “The fish starts stinking from the head,” according to a Latin saying that probably did not exist before Erasmus of Rotterdam made it popular during the Renaissance. There is a lot of bad smell when one approaches the MIVILUDES, the Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (“dérives sectaires”: note that the French “secte” and its derivative words should be translated into English as “cult” and not as “sect”), a unique French anti-cult agency that is part of the government itself.

One time, it publishes false and slanderous information in its yearly report—and runs away from a court case where judges would have ruled on it. Another time, it is caught red-handed using false statistics and anonymous reports that can be equally false. Yet in another incident, its chief, Hanène Romdhane, resigns unexpectedly for mysterious reasons.

The fish stinks from the head. Its former chief and now member of its Orientation Council Georges Fenech went to Crimea to applaud Putin for his illegal annexation of that Ukrainian territory. More recently, he breached the law by failing to pay what he owed Scientology after having lost a court case against it. He had to suffer the humiliation of seeing a bailiff access his bank and taking the money forcibly from his bank account.

The fish continues to stink from the head. Another had to get off the carousel. On June 6, French media reported that MIVILUDES President, Christian Gravel, had also resigned. This time, the reason why he had to resign was less mysterious.

On May 31, the General Inspection of the Administration (IGA) issued a first report on what is known in France as the scandal of the Fonds Marianne.

On October 16, 2020, high school teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by a terrorist after he had been accused of showing to his students cartoons from the magazine “Charlie-Hebdo” offending Prophet Muhammad. One of the consequences of this crime was the increased support by the French government to organizations fighting Islamic radicalism and “separatism,” a word indicating in France the self-organization of religious communities in a way deemed incompatible with the secular values of the French Republic.

From July 2020, Marlène Schiappa was the Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship, attached to the Minister of the Interior. She launched a “Fonds Marianne” to finance, initially with Euro 2.5 million, private associations that had proved their effectiveness in combating “separatism.” For her own political reasons, Schiappa also jumped on the anti-cult bandwagon, and repeatedly emphasized that she considered the “sectes” as no less “separatist” than Islamic fundamentalism.

The Comité interministériel de prévention de la délinquance et de la radicalisation (Interministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization, CIDPR) was put in charge of selecting the associations to be funded through the Fonds Marianne. The chief of the CIDPR was Christian Gravel, at the same time the President of the MIVILUDES, which is administratively connected with the CIDPR.

The largest chunk of the Fonds Marianne (Euro 355,000) went to an association known as Union fédérative des sociétés d’éducation physique et de préparation militaire (Federation of Physical Education and Military Training Societies, USEPPM), connected with controversial journalist Mohamed Sifaoui, who had been often accused of Islamophobia. It came out that the USEPPM’s application consisted of only seven sentences, and no serious investigation was performed on its ability to deliver serious results in the fight against radicalism. When the investigation started, some media commented that it could easily extend to private anti-cult organizations strictly associated with the MIVILUDES, which had also received funds from the CIDPR. While they were not yet accused of any financial wrongdoing, they may be easily be involved in the “suspicions of favoritism surrounding the structure created by Marlène Schiappa.”

This may no longer be a problem for Marlène Schiappa, who was recently busy posing for the cover of “Playboy” magazine. But it is a problem for Christian Gravel. He tried to switch all the blame for the USEPPM scandal to Schiappa, but the inspectors did not buy his version. Finally, he had to resign.

The MIVILUDES should now look for another president. The fish keeps stinking from the head. French bureaucrats who care for their reputation would probably prefer not to touch the rotten organization with a ten-foot pole.

*******************************************************************

Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.

Photo: Christian Gravel in happier times. Screenshot.

Further reading about FORB in France on HRWF website

FRANCE: MIVILUDES: Bailiff compels Georges Fenech to pay his debts to Scientology

FRANCE: MIVILUDES, from tragedy to farce: Bailiff compels Georges Fenech to pay his debts to Scientology

Former MIVILUDES chief and member of its Orientation Council had € 5,000 plus interests seized from his bank account.

Version française

HRWF Introduction

Scandals are piling up this year among anti-cult organizations in France and more is coming…

MIVILUDES from Tragedy to Farce: Bailiff compels Georges Fenech to pay his debts to Scientology

Scandal: FECRIS falsifies the program of a 2017 conference to hide that a fanatic anti-Ukrainian Russian lawyer was among the speakers

To avoid judicial proceedings by Scientology, the MIVILUDES republishes its annual report

82 Ukrainian scholars denounce to Macron a supporter of Crimea’s annexation

How MIVILUDES and French anti-cultists invented a cult

By Massimo Introvigne

Bitter Winter (19.05.2023) – We noted some days ago the curious relationship between the French governmental anti-cult agency MIVILUDES and the beautiful city of Caen, which is becoming synonym of bad luck for the controversial organization. Earlier this month, to avoid a hearing at the Court of Caen, MIVILUDES had to republish its latest yearly report including an answer by the Church of Scientology.

Confirming Marx’s famous dictum that history often repeats itself twice, the first time as a tragedy and the second as a farce, something in the air of Caen confused again the MIVILUDES in the person of its former chief and now member of its Orientation Council Georges Fenech. He is known as an arch-anticultist, and an occasional tourist to Crimea, where he went to applaud Putin for his illegal annexation of this Ukrainian territory.

On September 12, 2014, Fenech was interviewed by the radio network Europe 1 and stated unequivocally that Scientology was guilty of the crimes (including the “abus de faiblesse,” the French version of brainwashing) for which it was on trial in Versailles. This was a case where a prosecutor regarded as objectionable that a local company had organized for its employees courses (on non-religious subjects) with teachers who were members of the Church of Scientology. In all democratic countries, there is a principle called “presumption of innocence.” Every citizen has a right of being considered innocent until declared guilty by a final decision by a court of law.

In 2014 the Versailles case was pending. It is still pending today. On January 23, 2017, Caen’s Court of First Instance sided with Fenech, finding him not guilty. However, on December 18, 2018, the Appeal Court of Caen reversed the first decision and concluded that Fenech had violated Scientology’s right to the presumption of innocence. The Appeal Court noted that Fenech’s behavior should be judged more severely than if he were just a common citizen. As a former magistrate and former president of the MIVILUDES, those who listened to his interview might have found his statements as especially authoritative and believable.

Fenech was thus placed under an injunction not to further violate Scientology’s right to the presumption of innocence, and sentenced to pay Euro 5,000 to Scientology, including damages and legal expenses.

Fenech presents himself as a champion of the respect of the laws of the French Republic, and constantly accuses the “cults” of breaching them. The laws of “la République” are clear: court decisions should be obeyed, even if one disagrees with them.

Fenech, however, did not respect the decision of the Caen Appeal Court. For four years, several reminders notwithstanding, he did not pay his debt to the Church of Scientology.

In the end, it happened to Fenech what happens to debtors who are delinquent in their payments. A bailiff enjoined him to pay. He didn’t, and the bailiff seized the money from his bank account, plus Euro 1,139.51 as interests. The money was transferred on the account of the Church of Scientology on April 26, 2023. A copy of the file is in possession of Bitter Winter.

France gave to the world the pochade and the vaudeville, and the French are generally admired for the levity with which they enjoy a good laugh. This time, they can laugh at the expenses of George Fenech, a custodian of the laws who, not content with having breached the law once on the presumption of innocence, decided to breach it twice by not paying what he was sentenced to pay. Unavoidably, in the end he had his money taken from his bank account, as a common delinquent debtor.

Photo:Fenech’s interview of September 12, 2014, for which it was sentenced. Screenshot.

*************************************************************

Further reading about FORB in France on HRWF website

FRANCE: To avoid judicial proceedings by Scientology, the MIVILUDES republishes its annual report

Faced with a lawsuit, the French governmental anti-cult mission republishes its yearly report including a four-page right of answer by the Church of Scientology

HRWF (05.08.2023)On 5 May, Bitter Winter published an article by Massimo Introvigne titled “Anti-cultism à la mode de Caen: to avoid a court hearing, MIVILUDES humors Scientology” showing how surprisingly the MIVILUDES, the “Inter-ministerial mission for monitoring and combating cultic deviances (dérives sectaires)”, a peculiar French governmental institution officially endorsing and propagating the anti-cult ideology, has suddenly decided to avoid a lawsuit in the city of Caen which would have put in the limelight of the media a number of systemic deficiencies of its methodology. Hereafter, we publish large excerpts of the said article; the divisions in sections and the titles thereof are HRWF’s and not the author’s.

The MIVILUDES in trouble with the right of reply

“The MIVILUDES publishes yearly reports, which normally include factual mistakes, faulty statistics, and slander against movements it has decided to label as ‘cults’ (‘sectes,’ a French word that should be translated in English as ‘cults’ rather than ‘sects’).

(…) What happened to the MIVILUDES, thus, was that some of its victims started taking legal actions. One was the Church of Scientology, which asked for its answer to the allegations included in the MIVILUDES document to be published within or at the end of the report on the MIVILUDES’s website. The request was based on the French law on the right of reply, or the right to defend oneself against public criticism in the same venue where it was published. Since MIVILUDES did not publish Scientology’s answer within a reasonable delay, Scientology filed an emergency case (référé) with the Court of Caen, asking that MIVILUDES be forced to publish the answer. The hearing was scheduled for May 4. (…)

The MIVILUDES’ “former chief and now member of its Orientation Council, Georges Fenech, already had a bad experience in Caen, where he was sentenced in 2019 for infringement of the presumption of innocence of the Church of Scientology. Fenech prefers touristic destinations other than Caen, including Crimea, where he went in 2019 to meet with Vladimir Putin and condone the occupation of this Ukrainian region by Russian forces, which the French government and the European Union regard as illegal.”

“Trying to avoid the ill-fated Caen trip, the MIVILUDES did something that should be normal in democratic countries but is untypical of its modus operandi. Before the date of the hearing, it did republish its last yearly report by including the answer to it by the Church of Scientology. You may read the answer in the very last pages of this extraordinary ‘second edition’ of the MIVILUDES report.”

About the arguments

“It is a common sense answer, focusing on the fact that the references to Scientology in the report do not amount to ‘cultic deviances,’ even if one accepts this notion that is typical of the MIVILUDES and is not endorsed by mainline scholars of new religious movements. The answer notes that, ‘The Church [of Scientology] is pejoratively qualified as a multinational of spirituality. It is true that, like many other religions, the Church of Scientology has an international dimension: its followers are present in more than 150 countries throughout the world. But what is the difference with other religions such as Catholicism, Islam or Buddhism, for example? Why is the Church of Scientology treated differently with a commercial designation, when many countries in Europe and around the world recognize it as a religion like any other?

What are really “the saisines”?

“The answer then criticizes the system of ‘saisines,’ i.e. MIVILUDES’ method to evaluate the danger of a ‘cult’ based on a number of reports against it anybody can send to the agency via a Web form. ‘

To justify the inclusion of our Church in the activity report, MIVILUDES puts forward on pages 35 and 38 the figure of 33 ‘saisines’ received in 2022 concerning the Church of Scientology, without us knowing anything about the content of these ‘saisines,’ or even about this opaque concept of ‘saisine’ (does a simple request for information concerning our Church constitute a ‘saisine’?) Moreover, everyone can appreciate the special treatment given to the Church of Scientology in the activity report, for no apparent reason: 33 ‘saisines’ are enough for MIVILUDES to devote 4 pages of its report to the Church of Scientology (pages 58 to 61 of the report) and to mention it 51 times.

This is much more than all the cumulative developments devoted to the Christian tradition as a whole (Catholicism, Protestantism and Evangelicalism), which has nevertheless been the subject of… 293 ‘saisines’! The yearly report thus testifies to a very curious conception of the principle of impartiality of the administration and of the neutrality of the State with respect to religions.”

Half of the truth is not the truth

“After criticizing the report’s lack of understanding of what the theology of Scientology is all about, the answer discusses the case of a new Church of Scientology to be opened in Saint-Denis. “If, on this subject, MIVILUDES mentions the cancellation of the municipal decree which attempted to hinder the work necessary for the opening of the building, it forgets to specify that the State was also condemned by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Paris, at the same time as the city. The report tries to minimize this condemnation by simply indicating that the authorities must base themselves on strictly legal and objective considerations, without any pejorative a priori displayed towards the movement. This is a modest way of carefully avoiding the fact that the administrative judges condemned the administration for a misuse of power committed to the detriment of the Church, that is to say, the most serious violation tainting administrative action. One can only deplore the fact that MIVILUDES does not frankly disassociate itself from actions which seriously undermine the rule of law, because respect for the law is part of respect for the Republic and the great principles on which it is founded.”

Freedom of expression (verbal and printed) – a ‘cultic deviance’?

“The answer notes that the report presents proselytism activities and the distribution of flyers and booklets as ‘cultic deviances’ while they are part of the normal exercise of religious libertyby any religion. ‘The allegation that the Church seems to target fragile, suffering people, confronted with personal dramas or existential questions, adds the answer, is once again an allegation which has no reality: Scientology is universal and addresses itself to all, as is reflected in the profile of its devotees throughout the world, who belong to all socio-professional categories.’ The Church of Scientology is accused both of carrying out a massive propaganda by advertising its ideas online and offline and of secretiveness and ‘lack of transparency,’ which seems contradictory.

A controversial book endorsed by the MIVILUDES

The MIVILUDES report, the answer notes, advertises a comic book called ‘The Bubble Box,’ published in 2005 by a disgruntled ex-member of Scientology, and ‘endorsed by the MIVILUDES because it is one of the winners of its call for projects in 2021.’ The report, according to the answer, ‘tends to give it credibility by presenting it as a true testimony, whereas there is nothing to verify its authenticity. Whether or not this story really comes from a former faithful, its artificially dramatic tone, like a Hollywood thriller, has the effect of damaging the reputation and image of the Church, as well as the religious feelings of its faithful who do not recognize themselves at all in this story. This is all the more damaging since the report claims that the comic book was widely distributed with the blessing of a state agency.”

Finally, the answer mentions that the MIVILUDES report ‘also claims that the vigilance of some complainants has thwarted potential asset grabs by the Church of Scientology.’ However, ‘this claim is not supported by any source mentioned and… it is therefore impossible to know on what alleged facts it is based.’”

Conclusions

“It is clear, concludes the answer, that the MIVILUDES did not find any ‘cultic deviance’ in the activities of the Church of Scientology, even according to its own controversial definition of the notion. Having decided a priori that Scientology is a ‘cult,’ any activity it carries out, which would be regarded as absolutely normal if practiced by another religion, are automatically labeled as ‘cultic deviances.’ This is a circular and faulty logic, which can only result in discrimination and slander.”

Photo: The new Palais de Justice of Caen. From Twitter.

Further reading about FORB in France on HRWF website

FRANCE: How MIVILUDES and French anti-cultists invented a “cult”

FRANCE:“Église de Philadelphie”: How MIVILUDES and French anti-cultists invented a “cult”

In 2011, the wife and four children of a French aristocrat were murdered. Anti-cultists tried to connect the crime with “cults.” Their legal case has now collapsed.

By Massimo Introvigne

Bitter Winter (06.01.2023) – https://bit.ly/3CvCCUa – The French anti-cult establishment tried to promote itself “to the detriment of deeply religious people who have no deviance prohibited by the law.” Stéphane Goldenstein, the lawyer representing Geneviève and Christine Dupont de Ligonnès, tells Bitter Winter that “my clients are the scapegoats for a cause that is not their own.” The fact that the case against them has now been dismissed “comes to rehabilitate them in their dignities but the damage is done… ‘Slander boldly, something always sticks,’ as Francis Bacon rightly wrote.”

What is happening in France is another scandal hitting the MIVILUDES, the French Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (dérives sectaires: note that the French “secte” and its derivative words should be translated into English as “cult” and not as “sect”), a unique French anti-cult agency that is part of the government itself.

The case against what the MIVILUDES calls the “Philadelphia Church” (Église de Philadelphie) was dismissed by the district attorney office of Versailles on January 3. This revealed a hardly believable story where the MIVILUDES and others tried to surf on the notoriety of an unsolved homicide case to further their propaganda against “cults.”

On April 21, 2011, the police discovered in Nantes, France, the body of Agnès Hodanger, the wife of the French aristocrat Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, and of their four children. Xavier was named by the police as the main suspect for the murders, but he disappeared and has not been seen ever since. Although not well-known abroad, the affair has been the subject of hundreds of articles and several books and TV documentaries in France.

The Dupont de Ligonnès are a conservative Catholic family. Xavier’s mother, Geneviève, and his sister Christine did not endear themselves to the authorities by continuing to claim that Xavier’s guilt had not been proven, and other possibilities for the murder should have been considered. In general, French media do not like conservative or traditionalist Catholicism either.

Geneviève and Christine operate a conservative Catholic prayer group, which is also interested in private revelations Geneviève claims to receive from God and Jesus. There are thousands of similar Catholic communities in the world, hundreds in France, as described inter alia by historian Jean-Pierre Chantin in his recent book “Catholiques malgré Rome” (Paris: Cerf, 2022).

The name “Philadelphia Church” may sound strange and even “American” (aren’t most “cults” American?) in a country like France where Biblical literacy is low, but in fact dozens of Christian groups throughout the world use the name “Philadelphia,” referring to a city not in Pennsylvania but in present-day Turkey where one of the earliest churches was established. The church of Philadelphia is mentioned in the Book of Revelation 1:11. Although Revelation 1 was one of the texts they studied, the Duponts deny that their group was ever named “Church of Philadelphia.”

In 2019, disgruntled ex-members of the Dupont de Ligonnès community—again, such ex-members do exist in most religious groups—contacted the MIVILUDES claiming they had found “cultic deviances” there. Not being particularly skilled in the sociology of religions, which would have told them that crises often reinforce religious groups, the MIVILUDES commented that it was surprising that the community, which had been founded before the 2011 homicides, had not disbanded after the notorious case.

Not surprisingly, the MIVILUDES found that “cultic deviances” were at work, and sent the case to the office of the District Attorney of Versailles, which opened an investigation based on the French anti-cult About-Picard law of 2001, which created a strange crime of abusing of a state of weakness created through psychological techniques (yet another incarnation of the discredited theory of brainwashing, without using this name).

Enter the then French Minister Delegate for Citizenship at the Ministry of Interior, Marlène Schiappa, who had decided to jump on the anti-cult bandwagon for her own political purposes. The controversial politician gave several interviews where she denounced the “Philadelphia Church” as a dangerous “cult” that the police should investigate and the MIVILUDES should “alert the public opinion” about.

And the public opinion was duly alerted. Marie Drilhon, the president of the local branch in the Yvelines region of the main French anti-cult organization, UNADFI, explained that, “We are aware of much more dangerous and widespread movements in terms of recruitment, about which we must be more alert. However, this highly publicized story can help us to revamp the public vigilance against the cults.”

The cat was thus out of the bag. Perhaps there was no dangerous “cult” but because of the association with the 2011 murders the story will be “highly publicized” and will support the anti-cult propaganda, not to mention UNADFI’s claims that it needed more money to fight the “cults.”

Attorney Stéphane Goldenstein told Bitter Winter that “what disturbs me mostly in this case is that law-abiding citizens are harassed for their religious beliefs.” Goldenstein explains that “Geneviève’s revelations have never been approved by the Catholic Church, but they have not been formally condemned either. Some priests read them and found them quite surprising. She claims she receives them through a sort of automatic writing and they are in an antique language.” Not a believer in the revelations himself, Goldenstein insists that “there is nothing illegal there, nor do they include the prophecies about the end of the world some media mentioned.”

Goldenstein remembers that Xavier too was part of Catholic circles nostalgic of pre-Vatican-II times, and because of this Georges Fenech, who was at that time president of the MIVILUDES, “tried to create the image of a crime that had religious motivations and was born in a climate of ‘cultic deviances.’”

“It seems to me that the situation of a family who has suffered a lot, concludes Goldenstein, has been exploited for publicity purposes. In the process, their religious liberty was violated.”

The police and the prosecutor have now determined that there are no “cultic deviances.” A couple of French Catholics gathered friends to pray and study private revelations and the Bible. A quick look at the Internet would persuade the MIVILUDES that there are hundreds of similar prayer groups in France. Their values may not always be those of the French République, particularly when they are led by old aristocrats, but what they do is not illegal.

What happened is, simply, a shameful attempt to exploit a sensational murder to fuel the French campaign against “cults.”

Photo: Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès (screenshot) and the Nantes home where the bodies of his wife and children were found in 2011 (credits).

***************************************************************

FRANCE: Un hiver amer pour la MIVILUDES, l’agence gouvernementale anti-sectes

FRANCE: Un hiver amer (Bitter Winter) pour la MIVILUDES

La crise profonde de la mission gouvernementale française de lutte contre les sectes a été révélée par la démission de sa cheffe, Hanène Romdhane.

Par Massimo Introvigne

Read the original article in English.

Le président de la MIVILUDES Christian Gravel colportant les statistiques douteuses de la mission à la télévision. Capture d’écran.

Bitter Winter (27.12.2022) – FRANCE – Au début du mois, les médias français ont rapporté que la cheffe de la MIVILUDES, Hanène Romdhane, une magistrate, a démissionné de son poste – ou peut-être a-t-elle été contrainte de le faire par le président de la mission, Christian Gravel. La MIVILUDES est la Mission de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires, une agence antisectes unique en France qui fait partie du gouvernement lui-même.

Aucun média français n’a vraiment expliqué pourquoi Romdhane a dû partir, mais Bitter Winter a recueilli quelques commentaires de sources bien informées, qui ont parlé sous couvert d’anonymat. Romdhane est magistrate, et aurait été dépêchée par le ministère de la Justice auprès de la MIVILUDES pour donner à la mission un cadre juridique plus clair, afin de lui éviter par la même occasion d’éventuelles responsabilités juridiques. Si tel était le cas, son travail n’a pas été couronné de succès. Le statut juridique des activités de la MIVILUDES reste flou, et ses rapports continuent d’inclure des fake news qui s’apparentent à de la calomnie et exposent la mission à des poursuites pour diffamation. Dans son rapport le plus récent, la MIVILUDES a republié de fausses informations sur les Témoins de Jéhovah en Belgique pour lesquelles son homologue belge le CIAOSN a été reconnu coupable de diffamation par une décision du 16 juin 2022 du tribunal de Bruxelles. Et ce alors que la MIVILUDES et le CIAOSN se réunissent chaque mois pour échanger des informations.

Non seulement la MIVILUDES crée des risques juridiques pour le gouvernement, mais elle envoie également d’autres agences d’État et services de sécurité sur de fausses pistes basées sur des informations non fiables. La MIVILUDES a dû admettre que ses chiffres sur les « sectes » en France sont spéculatifs et ne reposent pas sur des données récentes, et que ses travaux et statistiques proviennent de « saisines », qui ne sont pas des « rapports » sur des actes répréhensibles spécifiques mais comprennent également de simples commentaires et questions d’autres branches de l’administration française et de simples citoyens.

Un autre motif d’insatisfaction, peut-être partagé par Romdhane et mentionné par certains médias français, est que des hommes politiques ont constamment utilisé la MIVILUDES comme un véhicule d’auto-promotion. Avant les dernières élections politiques françaises, c’était la ministre déléguée à la citoyenneté au ministère de l’Intérieur, Marlène Schiappa. Aujourd’hui, c’est la secrétaire d’État à la citoyenneté Sonia Backès, qui raconte une étrange histoire de “survivante” de la Scientology, qui a été contestée par son propre frère dans une interview qu’il a accordée à Bitter Winter. On comprend que le gouvernement soit encore moins heureux lorsque la MIVILUDES est utilisée à des fins politiques par des politiciens de l’opposition comme Georges Fenech, un militant antisecte forcené qui fut le président de la mission jusqu’en 2013 et y est revenu comme membre de son Conseil d’orientation en 2021.

En parlant de Bitter Winter, selon nos sources, un des principaux motifs de mécontentement à l’égard de la MIVILUDES est sa relation avec des organisations privées antisectes comme l’UNADFI française et la fédération européenne FECRIS, dont nous dénonçons systématiquement les méfaits. Après le départ de Romdhane, le président de la MIVILUDES, Gravel, a affirmé que le principal succès de la mission a été d’obtenir un million d’euros du gouvernement et de le distribuer aux associations privées. Cependant, le fait que la MIVILUDES fonctionne comme un guichet automatique pour les associations n’est pas sans poser de problèmes. L’ONG CAP-LC (CAP Liberté de conscience) a dénoncé l’UNADFI à la Cour des comptes française pour qu’elle enquête sur la façon dont elle dépense son argent.

La FECRIS a des problèmes encore plus graves en raison de ses relations avec des organisations et des citoyens russes – tels qu’Alexander Dvorkin, qui siège à son conseil d’administration, Alexander Novopashin et Roman Silantyev, qui a été invité par un affilié de la FECRIS à une conférence en France en juillet 2022 –, qui sont des partisans fanatiques de l’invasion de l’Ukraine par Poutine. La FECRIS a publié un court texte condamnant l’invasion de l’Ukraine par la Russie, a “caché” les affiliés russes de sa liste de membres, et a finalement éliminé complètement la liste de son site web, affirmant qu’elle est “en révision.”

En vain, puisque Novopashin lui-même a révélé le 2 décembre que les organisations russes, Dvorkin et lui-même n’avaient jamais été expulsés de la FECRIS et étaient toujours ses représentants en Russie. Novopashin a également écrit à Bitter Winter pour attirer notre attention sur sa déclaration.

Après que 82 universitaires ukrainiens ont écrit au président Macron pour demander la fin du soutien français à la FECRIS, dont les filiales russes aident efficacement à l’invasion de l’Ukraine en la dépeignant comme un pays dominé par des “sectes”, les relations étroites de la MIVILUDES avec la FECRIS sont devenues un sujet encore plus embarrassant.

C’est en effet un « bitter winter », un « hiver amer » pour la MIVILUDES, et l’agence française ne devrait s’en prendre qu’à elle-même. Des années de calomnies à l’encontre des minorités religieuses, basées sur des coupures de presse et des informations douteuses fournies par les antisectes, ont créé une image internationale de sectarisme et d’intolérance qu’il est désormais impossible de surmonter.

Notice: Undefined index: et_footer_layout in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1395

Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1395

Notice: Undefined index: et_footer_layout in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1396

Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1396

Notice: Undefined index: et_template in /home/hrwfe90/domains/hrwf.eu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/pdf-print/pdf-print.php on line 1397