Final Victory of Scientologists over French 'intelligence police' - Human Rights News - Church of Scientology Human Rights Department

5 November 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FINAL VICTORY OF SCIENTOLOGISTS OVER FRENCH “INTELLIGENCE POLICE”
Real winners are the French people

In a successful conclusion to a battle waged for thirteen years, four Scientologists today gained access to the files maintained on them by France’s intelligence police, the Renseignement Generaux (RG).

Scientologists have been attempting to view their RG files since 1991, when they began to suspect that false information in the files lay behind governmental discrimination they were experiencing in their personal and professional lives.

They first sought assistance from the French Data Protection Agency, the CNIL, under France’s Freedom of Information (FOI) law. However, the CNIL claimed that the Scientologists in question had no right of access. Regarding this decision as fundamentally flawed and in direct violation of France’s FOI law, twenty-five Church members filed suit in a Paris court against the French Ministry of the Interior, which controls the RG, to obtain access to the files.

The lower courts ruled for the Interior Ministry, so the Scientologists, more determined than ever, appealed to France's highest administrative court, the Council of State. And on 30 July 2003, they achieved a momentous victory when the Court ruled, in a case brought by Scientologist Michel Raoust, that vague and unspecific claims could no longer be used by the government to bar French citizens from gaining access to these files. The Court stated “Therefore, Mr Raoust is fully justified in his demand that the decision denying him access to the information relating to him in the files of the Renseignements Généraux be cancelled.”

This decision set a precedent for 38 additional Scientologists who the court ruled were entitled to access their RG files. But the RG at first refused to comply, despite further condemnations by the Council of State and the Administrative Tribunal of Paris of 11 and 25 March 2004. These condemnations included an order that the RG pay a fine of 50 euros with respect to each of 14 Scientologists for every day that access to the files was not granted them.

The cumulative pressure eventually brought about the RG’s capitulation and on November 5, the first four Scientologists were permitted to view the dossiers containing information on them.

Not unexpectedly, the files contained not one piece of evidence justifying the claims that the RG had used to deny the Scientologists access. On the contrary, the contents of the files show that the RG has been conducting surveillance on members of a peaceful religion engaged in community betterment actions such as drug education and religious freedom.

The Scientologists encourage all French citizens to use the legal precedents they have achieved to gain access to files maintained by the RG on law-abiding members of the public. L. Ron Hubbard defined the price of Freedom as “constant alertness, constant willingness to fight back.” Through ceaseless vigilance to prevent governmental abuse of power we can bring about a truly pluralistic, open and democratic society.