RUSSIA: A preacher of the International Church of Scientology was detained in Kaliningrad
OVD-Info (01.04.2025) – In Kaliningrad, a preacher of the International Church of Scientology was detained in a criminal case on the organization of the activities of an “undesirable” NGO, the channel “Operational Reports”, which is associated with the security forces, reports.
According to the security forces, the man, using the Intention Personnel Training Center LLC registered to him, organized the activities of the local cell of the International Church of Scientology and studied the materials of American Scientology organizations recognized as “undesirable” in the Russian Federation: “World Institute of Scientology Enterprises Internationab” (WISE Int.) and “Church of Spiritual Technology”. The release states that the detainee has been advising Russians on the methods of these companies for more than 20 years.
During the search, the detainee’s literature and personal folders of the students were seized, he himself was sent into custody.
- The religious doctrine of Scientologists originated in 1952 in the United States. Its founder, American science fiction writer Lafayette Ron Hubbard, developed a spiritual practice called dianetics. Almost immediately after the founding of the church, believers had problems: they were accused of fraud, preaching pseudoscience, financial violations, persecution of apostates and critics of Hubbard’s teachings. Trials were held in the USA, Germany, France and Belgium.
- In Russia, Hubbard’s book “What is Scientology?” recognized as extremist material. In September 2021, the Prosecutor General’s Office recognized the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises and the Ron Hubbard Library undesirable in Russia. In August 2023, a court in St. Petersburg convicted five members of the local Scientology Church, a year later it was recognized as an extremist organization.
- IC “Sova” considers the prosecution of Scientologists for extremism to be unlawful. “The affirmation of one’s own exclusivity is characteristic of any religion, and the persecution of Scientologists and the prohibition of their literature on this basis are unjustified,” the Sova website says.
Photo: from video capture of https://klops.ru/kaliningrad/2025-03-31/353642-kaliningradskiy-biznes-trener-uchil-lyudey-zarabatyvat-s-pomoschyu-nezhelatelnogo-v-rf-amerikanskogo-veroucheniya