FRANCE: Miviludes convicted again for defamation in its annual reports
HRWF (02.04.2025) – The Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and the Fight Against Sectarian Abuses (Miviludes) has once again been convicted by the Paris Administrative Court following a defamation proceeding against a small religious group conducting a collective living experiment in Haute-Loire region.
The Malrevers Kibbutz and Interstyl Case
The “Malrevers Kibbutz” and the “Interstyl Society,” whose management and operations are ensured by kibbutz members, challenged Miviludes’ refusal to remove the disputed passages from its 2021 activity report, equating them with “cultic abuse.”
The Paris Administrative Court issued its judgment on February 21, 2025, ordering Miviludes to correct its publications due to “inaccurate or unverified information.”
The Minister of the Interior is therefore ordered to remove the words “Cultic Abuses Observed” from the title on page 82 of Miviludes’ 2021 Activity Report within fifteen days. In addition, the State must pay the applicants €1,800 pursuant to Article L. 761-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice.
Miviludes bogged down in other appeals
The amendments to the latest Miviludes annual report (those for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 have not yet been published) are far from being completed, since Jehovah’s Witnesses have also contested it [1] and a similar request from the Atypikoo Society has just been submitted to the Paris Administrative Court [2].
[1] « Les Témoins de Jéhovah contestent le dernier rapport de la MIVILUDES », Les Témoins de Jéhovah de France, 8 mars 2023.
[2] TA Limoges, 3 février 2025, n° 2500044.
References
TA Paris, 6e sect., 2e ch., 21 février 2025, n° 2307350
« Dérives sectaires : une communauté obtient que la Miviludes change son dernier rapport », Le Figaro / AFP, 5 mars 2025
Steve Eisenberg, « La Miviludes condamnée pour avoir qualifié un kibboutz de “dérive sectaire” », RELIGACTU, 5 mars 2025
Jan Leonid Bornstein, « France : Miviludes Convicted for Having Stigmatized a Kibbutz », The European Times, 5 March 2025
Davy Forget, “La Miviludes encore condamnée à corriger une publication“, Droit des cultes et Témoins de Jéhovah, 27 mars 2025