A Paris prosecutor has recommended that a court should dissolve the Church of Scientology's French branch when it rules on charges of fraud against the organisation. Registered as a religion in the United States, Scientology enjoys no such legal protection in France, where it has faced repeated accusations of being a money making cult, the Herald-Sun reports.
The Church's Paris headquarters and bookshop are defendants in a fraud trial that began on May 25.
Summing up her views on the case, state prosecutor Maud Coujard urged the court to return a guilty verdict and dissolve the organisation in France.
The Church of Scientology denies the fraud charges and says the case against it violates freedom of religion.
A ruling is expected within months.
French state prosecutors had previously resisted the idea of an outright dissolution of Scientology in the country.
If the court follows the prosecutor's recommendation, Scientology could appeal and the verdict would be suspended.
The trial centres on complaints made in the late 1990s by two former members who spent huge sums on Scientology courses and "purification" sessions.
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Source (CTHN)
SV (ED)