In St. Petersburg, guilty verdicts were announced against five members of the local Church of Scientology

The Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg announced guilty verdicts against five members of the local Church of Scientology: Ivan Matsitsky, Sahib Aliev, Galina Shurinova, Anastasia Terentyeva and Konstantia Yesaulkova. This is the press service of the courts of St. Petersburg. reports They were found guilty under articles on inciting hatred (clause “c” of Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code), creating an extremist community (Part 1 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code) and illegal entrepreneurship (clauses “a” and “b” of Part 2, Article 171 of the Criminal Code). Matsitsky was sentenced to six and a half years in a general regime colony with deprivation of the right to engage in activities in public associations and religious organizations for a period of two years. The court imposed fines on the remaining defendants: 1,300,000 rubles for Shurinova, 1,200,000 rubles for Terentyeva, 1,000,000 rubles for Aliyev, 600,000 rubles for Esaulkova. All of them were released from punishment due to serving their sentences. The charges for all defendants were real sentences, and the defense insisted on an acquittal. 3,600 sheets of paper, similar in appearance to US dollar banknotes and seized from the premises of the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg, were confiscated in favor of the state, as requested by the prosecutor. requested a search against Scientologists under three criminal charges, which were filed in 2017. The head of the church, Matsitsky, and the accountant, Aliev, were sent to a pre-trial detention center, one of the leaders, Terentyeva, and the lawyer, Esaulkova, were placed under house arrest, and for the executive director, Shurinova, they chose a recognizance not to leave as a preventive measure. Subsequently, Matsitsky and Aliyev were placed under house arrest. The case was also sent. The investigation considers conducting paid courses without creating a legal entity to be illegal business activity. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognized all the defendants as political prisoners.

Religious teachings of Scientologists in 1952 in the USA. Its founder, American science fiction writer Lafayette Ron Hubbard, developed a spiritual practice called Dianetics. Almost immediately after the founding of the church, problems arose among believers: they were accused of fraud, preaching pseudoscience, financial irregularities, and persecuting apostates and critics of Hubbard's teachings. Trials took place in the USA, Germany, France and Belgium. arose - IC “Sova” considers it unlawful to prosecute Scientologists for extremism. “Assertion of one’s own exclusivity is characteristic of any religion, and the persecution of Scientologists and the banning of their literature on this basis are unfounded,” on the Owl website.it says