To Win a Case, the Magic Word: Cult
Grenoble lawyer Jean-Pierre Joseph on how the word cult functions in French courtrooms: an accusation that needs no proof, that no judge goes to verify, and that turns ordinary choices into offences.
presumption of innocence
6 stories
Irrelevant and Arbitrary Criteria for Denouncing Dérives Sectaires
CICNS contrasts the Amour et Miséricorde community, dissolved under media pressure after a Fenech visit, with France 24's respectful coverage of a Buddhist three-year retreat that would tick the same criteria.
The Tragedy of St Paul
Ten deaths in Mauritius in August 2004, two EK medallions, and within days a whole religious minority under suspicion: Emile d'Albret traces how the French anti-cult template travelled to the Indian Ocean press, and defends nothing but the presumption of innocence.
The Guéniot Affair and the Accusation of "Cult": CICNS on France 2's "Prise directe"
CICNS counter-investigation of France 2's "Prise directe" (17 Nov 2009): the Guéniot affair, a physician acquitted on appeal, and trial by television.
6 December 2009
The Guéniot Affair: A Right to Know or a Right to Smear? A CICNS Counter-Investigation
English translation of the CICNS report contrasting TV and book coverage of the Guéniot "cult" affair with the Douai appeal court's full acquittal.
14 November 2009
Spiritual Minorities and Sexual Abuse?
André Tarassi's 2006 dossier on the great sexual-abuse affairs involving spiritual leaders, from Chopra's ten-minute acquittal to the Mandarom defamation rulings: what survived the courts, what remained rumour, and the invisible abuse of score-settling behind the stigmatisation campaign.
1 January 2006