Link Bable-fish translation here: LINK - Unofficial translation here:
St. Petersburg declared Scientology center illegal.
St. Petersburg. The Supreme Court of Russia has reaffirmed a judgment of the St. Petersburg City Court made summer, and now the Scientology organization in is Petersburg is prohibited.
St. Petersburg is the third location in Russia where the sect identified as Scientology must officially cease activities. The ban applies to St Petersburg as well as Bashkortostan and Khabarovsk.
It is not expected that the followers of Scientology will resume their activities. As the experience in other two regions shows, they will go underground and work.
Numerous violations of the law lead to the ban.
The Petersburg Scientology center had been in existence since the 1990s and was in a respectable building in the city center near the Nevskii Prospekt. Their propaganda work was conducted under the guise of a religious organization to understand Association busy Metro stations Vosstaniya and Ligovskii Prospekt.
Russian law enforcement were had been busy for years collecting information on Scientology’s illegal machinations. It was accused of charging exorbitant fees for providing medical assistance without a license.
Scientology’s widespread practice of the technique of "auditing" was classified by the law enforcement authorities as "unqualified interference in the sphere of consciousness of the people".
In December 2003, there was a temporary closure of the center. When the sect continued their activities, the Justice Ministry turned to the Public Prosecutor's Office and submitted a plea. A tug-of-war lasting several years led to the decision made yesterday.
