=== The Body / Attleboro Cult
1. Sect Members Denied Reduced Bail
2. Attleboro cult trio's bail request rejected
3. Sect member fed son secretly, lawyer said

=== Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
4. Did Mwerinde Kill Other Kanungu Cult Leaders?

=== Falun Gong
5. Falungong woman dies six months after Chinese police beating: group
6. China Sentences Falun Gong Member
7. US protests Chinese jailing of US resident
8. Hong Kong Falungong claim China's persecution spreading
9. Macao Council rejects Falun Gong request to stage demonstration
10. US mayor apologizes to Chinese consulate in Los Angeles over ''Falun Gong Week''
11. Falun Gong followers plan events
12. [ Beijing attacks attempts to nominate Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi for next year's Nobel Peace Prize]
13. Chinese farmers ''sympathetic'' to plight of Falun Gong members

=== Zhong Gong
14. Chinese spiritual groups appeal to US to set leader free

» Part 2

=== Scientology
15. Hospital says it will reduce `take downs'
16. Schools Notebook
17. Just say ''No'' to Scientology literature in the library

=== Buddhism
18. Revered Buddhist Leader Is Accused Of Wrongdoing
18a Vietnam takes action against Buddhist leader

=== Islam
19. Musical Canceled in Netherlands
20. 'Holy warrior' T-shirts rile US sportswear giant
21. Muslim prisoner's plight sparks stern reminder to private jail over religious beliefs

=== Mungiki
22. Police on Mungiki alert

=== Hate Groups
23. Butler says he won't file Idaho tax return
24. German Court Targets Online Denier of Holocaust
25. Australian holocaust revisionist rejects court's Internet finding
25a. Lawyer leaves $650,000 to hate groups
26. In 2 Incidents, Germany's Neo-Nazi Fears Prove Wrong

» Part 3

=== Other News
27. China blows up churches and temples in religious crackdown
28. U.S. Critical as China Cracks Down on Religion
29. Religious Association Launches Cult Probe
30. Bell takes stand against far right group in Essex
30a. Court tells Rasta lawyer to spill the seeds
31. Cult Fire At Lagos State University
32. IRS Church Seizure Sparks Fears
33. Political Polygamists Coming Out of the Closet
34. RSS pamphlets: Sikhs are part of Hinduism
35. Ex-minister stands by 'biblical rod'

=== Death Penalty
36. Death Penalty Doubts

=== Noted
37. Constitution Protects Beliefs, Not Practices

=== The Virgin Around The Corner
38. Church hails Britney as virgin role model


=== The Body / Attleboro Cult

1. Sect Members Denied Reduced Bail
AP, Dec. 12, 2000
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
[...The Body / Attleboro Cult...] NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- A sect leader, his wife and sister, accused of starving the couple's infant son, were denied lower bail Tuesday.

Judge David McLaughlin rejected the bail requests without comment, apparently unmoved by lawyers for the three who said they did not intend to kill the baby and were only following a prophecy by the sister, Michelle Mingo.

The prosecutor argued vigorously to keep the three in jail.
(...)

Jacques Robidoux's lawyer, Frank O'Boy, said the sect leader believed his sister when she told him and his wife, Karen, that it was God's will to withhold food from the infant. The boy was fed only breast milk and almond milk until he died in April 1999 just before his first birthday.

''They had an abiding faith that God would provide,'' O'Boy said. ''Whether their faith was misplaced or had no basis in reality is a question of negligence or recklessness, but not intent to murder.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


2. Attleboro cult trio's bail request rejected
Boston Herald, Dec. 13, 2000
http://www.bostonherald.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
An Attleboro cult mother, who was allegedly pressured into starving her son to death by her controlling husband, snuck the dying toddler food, her defense attorney said yesterday.

``She gave him small amounts of food when she could,'' Karen Robidoux' defense attorney, Robert Jubinville, said yesterday. ``It's easy for us to second-guess her, but in that setting, the husband is the head of the household and is not to be disobeyed. She did what was required of her.''

Despite defense attorneys' claims that the case against Karen Robidoux, her husband, Jacques, and his sister, Michelle Mingo, is ``overcharged,'' New Bedford Superior Court Judge David A. McLaughlin refused to lower the trio's bail and they were sent back to jail.

Jacques Robidoux, who faces first-degree murder charges in the April 1999 death of his 1-year-old son, Samuel, is being held on $500,000 cash bail. Karen Robidoux, charged with second-degree murder, is jailed on $100,000 bail while Mingo, who faces accessory charges, is being held on $50,000.
(...)

O'Boy and Jubinville compared the case to other child-neglect death cases in Massachusetts, including that of Christian Scientists David and Ginger Twitchell. The Twitchells, who opposed conventional medicine, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter after their 2-year-old son, Robyn, died from a treatable bowel disorder in 1986.

``Every case in Massachusetts that's touched this issue has been involuntary manslaughter,'' O'Boy said.

The attorneys also criticized Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.'s office for media ``leaks'' and said they will be seeking to have the case transferred because of widespread publicity.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


3. Sect member fed son secretly, lawyer said
Boston Globe, Dec. 13, 2000
http://www.boston.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
NEW BEDFORD - An Attleboro sect member charged with murder in the alleged starvation death of her son secretly fed the boy small pieces of food despite an edict from the sect that the child drink only water and breast milk, her lawyer said yesterday.

As a result, Karen Robidoux should not face second-degree murder charges in the death of her 11-month-old son, Samuel, lawyer Robert L. Jubinville said in Bristol Superior Court.

Jubinville said his client quietly resisted the edict laid down by her husband, sect leader Jacques Robidoux, and Jacques' sister, Michelle Mingo, both of whom have been charged in the case. Jubinville added that the rules of the fundamentalist sect forbid her from protesting against her husband.

''She could disagree,'' Jubinville said, ''but she couldn't argue with him. She did what was required of her.''

Lawyers for all three defendants said their clients did not intend to kill Samuel.
(...)

The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God

4. Did Mwerinde Kill Other Kanungu Cult Leaders?
The East African (Kenya), Dec. 10, 2000
http://www.allafrica.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
New reports have emerged indicating that Sister Cledonia Mwerinde, a co-architect of the Kanungu cult deaths in Uganda in March, may have killed cult leaders Joseph Kibwetere and Dominica Kataribaabo and then fled.
(...)

The cult's survivors say Mwerinde sold off cult property without the knowledge of the two other leaders, Kataribaabo and Kibwetere, whom she could have duped to their deaths in the fire.
(...)

On the day she escaped, Kataribaabo and Kibwetere, said to have been very close to Mwerinde, were not seen with her. She is instead said to have escaped with her sister, two children and another man in the pick-up, which left the town at about 5.30 am.
(...)

A documentary film produced by the TV station puts money and greed at the centre of Mwerinde's motives for forming the group, and eventually destroying it.

One local businessman is quoted as saying that just days before March 17, Mwerinde consulted him on the sale of the cult's property, which included vast tracts of land, vehicles and buildings.

International arrest warrants have been issued for the cult leaders, and a reward of Ush2 million ($1,078) per head offered.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Falun Gong

5. Falungong woman dies six months after Chinese police beating: group
AFP, Dec. 13, 2000
http://sg.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
A Chinese college professor has died six months after being badly beaten by police while in detention for refusing to denounce the banned Falungong movement, group members said Wednesday.

Zhao Xin, a 32-year-old assistant professor at the Business and Economics College at the Beijing Industry and Commerce University, died Monday at her dormitory on the campus, according to her friends and a Falungong statement.

They said Zhao had a fractured neck vertebra when she was transferred from a Beijing detention center to hospital in critical condition on June 22, four days after she was arrested.

She also had bruised and swollen eyes, minor injuries to her head and difficulty breathing, they said.
(...)

The last time she was arrested was June 19 when she and 20 other Falungong practitioners were caught doing Falungong exercises at a Beijing park.
(...)

Friends believe she was severely beaten by police.

''She was healthy when they arrested her,'' a friend, who identified herself as Li Fang, told AFP.
(...)

Around 75 Falungong practitioners are now reported by human rights groups to have died in suspicious circumstances in police detention since the group was banned as an evil cult in July last year.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


6. China Sentences Falun Gong Member
AP, Dec. 12, 2000
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
BEIJING -- A U.S. resident who helped publicize China's harsh crackdown on the Falun Gong meditation sect has been sentenced to three years in prison for spying by a Beijing court, a U.S. diplomat said Tuesday.

Teng Chunyan, a sect member and Chinese citizen who is a U.S. permanent resident, was convicted of disclosing national security information to foreigners, the diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Teng was sentenced Tuesday and her father confirmed the sentence to an official at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the diplomat said. Neither Teng nor her husband, a U.S. citizen whom the diplomat would not identify, have signed waivers allowing the release of personal information about them, he said.
(...)

A New York acupuncturist who joined Falun Gong in New Jersey last year, Teng entered China in early 2000 to gather information on the ban against Falun Gong.

Using the pseudonym Hannah Li, Teng tipped off foreign reporters in China about sect members' protests against the ban on the group and arranged interviews with them.

A purported copy of her indictment, released by a Hong Kong-based rights group, specifically accused Teng of giving a digital camera to an accomplice, who then sneaked into a center outside Beijing where Falun Gong members were being held. Teng then allegedly gave foreign news media the film.
(...)

The secrecy that shrouded her case is typical in trials involving the vague and partly unpublished laws against spying.
(...)

Teng faced up to 10 years in prison. Her relatively light sentence followed protests by the U.S. government. A State Department spokesman last week called Teng's case ''deeply disturbing.''

The U.S. Embassy raised her case with the Chinese government several times, hoping she would be allowed to return to the United States, the diplomat said. He said the embassy would continue to lobby China on her behalf.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


7. US protests Chinese jailing of US resident
AAP, Dec. 13, 2000
http://au.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
The United States said today that it was ''deeply disturbed'' after a US resident was jailed in China for exposing the detention in mental hospitals of members of the banned Falungong group.

Teng Chunyan, 37, from New York, who is married to a US citizen, was jailed for three years on spying charges after she became the first overseas member of Falungong put on trial in China, US diplomats in Beijing said.

''We haven't had an official announcement from the Chinese but if the reports are true we would be deeply disturbed,'' a State Department official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

''We call on China to end the crackdown on Falungong and uphold the right of its citizens to engage in peaceful spiritual pursuits.''

The official said the United States had raised Teng's plight with Chinese authorities in both Washington and Beijing, adding: ''We will do so again.''

Teng was accused of stealing, prying into, buying and illegally providing state intelligence, according to an indictment obtained by the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong.
(...)

China's official media has not reported the case, and foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue Tuesday refused to make any comment.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


8. Hong Kong Falungong claim China's persecution spreading
AFP, Dec. 10, 2000
http://sg.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Around 200 followers of the Falungong spiritual movement marched to government offices in Hong Kong Sunday to demand an end to what they said was escalating persecution by China.

The Falungong members marched from the business district of Central to the Chinese central government liaison office in Wanchai on Hong Kong Island to deliver a letter asking the mainland authorities to stop ''severe human rights abuses'' against practitioners.

The march was also held to mark International Human Rights Day.

Demonstrators waved banners carrying slogans including ''Stop prosecuting Falungong in China.''

The letter claimed human rights abuses were being extended into ''Hong Kong, Macau and other overseas regions.''

The marchers alleged in Macau, Falungong members had been subject to ''unreasonable restriction and surveillance'' while practitioners had also received ''unfair treatment from various entities'' in Hong Kong.
(...)

The group thanked 18 Hong Kong legislators who issued a joint declaration calling for the protection of human rights for Falungong followers in Hong Kong and on the mainland.

The letter said: ''We cannot agree with the persecution of the central government'' and called on the mainland to ''respect the rights and freedoms'' of practitioners and let them ''conduct activities freely.''
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


9. Macao Council rejects Falun Gong request to stage demonstration
BBC Monitoring/Hong Kong iMail, Dec. 11, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Text of report by 'Hong Kong iMail' web site on 11th December
About 300 Falun Gong followers in Macao have been prohibited from staging a demonstration during President Jiang Zemin's visit later this month for handover anniversary celebrations.

The group had applied to the Macao Municipal Council on 27th November for permission to hold a protest on 20th December, the first anniversary of the handover, Hong Kong Association of Falun Dafa convenor Kan Hung-cheung said.

But the council rejected the request, saying the proposed demonstration routes, which would end at the Central Government Liaison Office, would pass through areas that would either be closed for the festivities or occupied by other organizations.

A Macao Falun Gong member, who would only identify himself as Mr Lam, said the group would submit another application to the council today, proposing three new demonstration routes.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


10. US mayor apologizes to Chinese consulate in Los Angeles over ''Falun Gong Week''
BBC Monitoring/Zhongguo Xinwen She (China), Dec. 11, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Text of report by the Chinese news agency Zhongguo Xinwen She
Los Angeles, 9th December: The China Press in the United States carried a report today saying some ''Falun Gong'' elements asserted that Alhambra City has designated the period from 4th to 8th December as ''Falun Gong Week.'' Prior to this, Chinese Deputy Consul- General Xu Shiguo in Los Angeles met with Alhambra Mayor Paul L. Talbot by making an emergency appointment. At the meeting, he demanded clarification and made representations.

Deputy Consul-General Xu Shiguo pointed out that the ''Falun Gong'' is an illegal cult organization, banned by the Chinese government, that has done great harm to society and families. At present, a small number of ''Falun Gong'' practitioners in the United States have tried every possible way to develop the ''Falun Gong'' cult locally and have engaged in activities to oppose the Chinese government. They have resorted to fraudulent means to obtain sympathy and support. Nevertheless, they will never be able to change the nature of ''Falun Gong'' as a cult. He urged Alhambra to take measures to eradicate the negative influence brought by the city government's announcement of the ''Falun Gong Week''.

After listening to what Xu Shiguo said, Mayor Paul L. Talbot expressed his apologies to the Chinese consulate-general and said that Alhambra's announcement of a ''Falun Gong Week'' was a mistake as a result of its being misled and that he himself should take all responsibility for this. He promised to try his best to remedy the undesirable influence of the incident and ensure that similar incidents will not occur again.

Immediately after the meeting, Paul L. Talbot asked a lawyer of the city government to write a letter to the ''Falun Gong'' elements stating clearly the solemn stand of the city government that ''Falun Gong'' is a political organization with a clear goal and the city government does not support the viewpoints or activities of the ''Falun Gong'' elements. The letter also demanded that the ''Falun Gong'' elements immediately stop making use of the ''congratulatory letter'' of the city government to attain their political goal and immediately tell the public the government's political stand of not supporting ''Falun Gong''.
[...entire item...]


11. Falun Gong followers plan events
The Denver Post, Dec. 10, 2000
http://www.denverpost.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Dec. 10, 2000 - Local Falun Gong practitioners will observe Falun Gong week beginning today, something that wouldn't be allowed in their native China, where communist leaders oppose it as a public menace and a threat to their rule.
(...)

Members feel safe in Denver, said Jie Sun, a computer programmer who practices the meditation and exercise movement. And they'd like to spread what they see as the healthy benefits of Falun Gong.

''It has powerful effects on physical, mental and spiritual health,'' said Jie. Because of that, he said, it has spread around the world since its founding in 1992.

People gather in Denver each week in Washington Park to perform the Falun exercise program.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


12. [ Beijing yesterday attacked attempts to nominate Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi for next year's Nobel Peace Prize, labelling him a criminal and a cult leader. ]
South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Dec. 13, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Beijing yesterday attacked attempts to nominate Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi for next year's Nobel Peace Prize, labelling him a criminal and a cult leader.

''You all are very clear who Li Hongzhi is. He is not only the head of a cult, the Falun Gong cult, but he is also a criminal,'' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


13. Chinese farmers ''sympathetic'' to plight of Falun Gong members
BBC Monitoring/Kyodo, Dec. 11, 2000
http://beta.yellowbrix.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo
Beijing, 11th December: Outside Beijing, members of China's beleaguered Falun Gong spiritual movement have adopted another tool in their campaign to win official and public approval.

Along suburban Beijing roads, signs proclaim, simply, ''Falun Gong is good'' and ''the Falun Law is the correct law''.

No one is claiming credit for the hand-painted characters that hardly stand out from public notices and advertisements on walls, rocks and lampposts typical throughout China. But no one is rushing to see them defaced, either.

Locals are, if not enthusiastic, at least sympathetic to the plight of Falun Gong members. They have seen the government- sponsored propaganda claiming that Falun Gong is an evil cult that corrupts souls and causes untold death and destruction while enriching its wicked mastermind, Li Hongzhi. But passers-by paint a different picture.

Most know Falun Gong practitioners and consider them ''perhaps a bit unusual'' but certainly not dangerous.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


=== Zhong Gong

14. Chinese spiritual groups appeal to US to set leader free
AFP, Dec. 10, 2000
http://sg.dailynews.yahoo.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
An outlawed Chinese spiritual group Sunday called on the United Nations to help in the release its leader, who has been jailed in the US territory of Guam and is awaiting immigration procedures, a Hong Kong rights group said.

The ''Zhong Gong'' group asked that spiritual leader Zhang Hongbao be released from inhumane conditions on Guam where he has been held since a US immigration court agreed to grant him ''asylum from torture'' on September 20, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.

Guam island is a US territory in the Pacific Ocean.

The group maintained that the immigration court's decision, which would apparently grant Zhang asylum in the United States, was based on the UN Convention Against Torture of which the United States is a signatory nation, the center said.

Zhang Hongbao fled to Guam after the Chinese government began a crackdown on the ''Zhong Gong'' group, much in the way it has been trying to stamp out the more high profile Falungong spiritual group over the last 17 months.
(...)

The petition said prison conditions on Guam ''in many ways were worse than in Chinese prisons,'' with crowded conditions, little medical treatment and a two-hour wait to make a ten minute telephone call, it said.

The petition also accused the United States government of caving in to pressures from China, by refusing to follow through with Zhang's asylum case.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


» Continued in Part 2