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Russian court labels Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg as extremist organization

It has been established that the religious group's activities were aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, humiliating individuals from various social groups, and encouraging people to abandon respect for social rules and laws

ST. PETERSBURG, December 17. /TASS/. A Russian court has classified the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg as an extremist organization, the city prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

"Based on the prosecution’s request, the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg religious group has been designated as an extremist organization. <...> Its members were spreading literature that had been recognized as extremist in accordance with the law," the statement reads.

It has been established that the religious group has been operating in St. Petersburg for quite some time. Its activities were aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, humiliating individuals from various social groups, and encouraging people to abandon respect for social rules and laws.

The city’s joint court press service, in turn, said that the defendants’ lawyers had strongly opposed the lawsuit being upheld by the court. They explained that the administrative lawsuit "is remarkably illogical" and pointed out that all those convicted by the Nevsky District Court had left Russia and the group had ceased to exist in 2022.

Church of Scientology

Dianetics and Scientology is a religious and philosophical movement founded by American science-fiction writer Lafayette Ron Hubbard in the United States in the early 1950s. The academic community does not recognize it as science. In Russia, certain Scientology materials are labeled as extremist and included in the federal list of extremism-related materials. Their storage and distribution are prohibited in the country.

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