What The Hell Is Wrong With Katie Holmes And Scientology Faces Criminal Charges
I was just going to make this one of the Random Photos and make a smartass comment with Katie mumbling something about Tom, but if you click on the photo and enlarge it you will see that Katie is completely out if it. Now, Tom and Katie did just finish dinner so she could have got hammered, and if I were her, would probably do the same thing. The problem with that theory is that she just seems really lethargic. She's not smiling at anyone or anything, and is just holding a pen and doing what she's told. She just doesn't look right. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it feels like something is wrong.
The following story is from AP.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A Belgian prosecutor on Tuesday recommended that the U.S.-based Church of Scientology stand trial for fraud and extortion, following a 10-year investigation that concluded the group should be labeled a criminal organization.
Scientology said it would fight the criminal charges recommended by investigating prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen, who said that up to 12 unidentified people should face charges.
Van Espen's probe also concluded that Scientology's Brussels-based Europe office and its Belgian missions conducted unlawful practices in medicine, violated privacy laws and used illegal business contracts, said Lieve Pellens, a spokeswoman at the Federal Prosecutors Office.
"They also face charges of being ... a criminal organization," Pellens said in a telephone interview.
In a statement, Scientology's Europe office accused the prosecutor of hounding the organization and said it would contest the charges.
"For the last 10 years, the prosecutor has been using the media, trying to damage the reputation of the Church of Scientology and not being able to put a case in court," Scientology said. "As a consequence, this created a climate of intolerance and discrimination" in Belgium.
Scientology has been active in Belgium for nearly three decades. In 2003, it opened an international office near the headquarters of the European Union to lobby for its right to be recognized as an official religious group, a status it does not enjoy in Belgium.
Investigators have spent the past decade trying to determine how far Scientology went in recruiting converts after numerous complaints were filed with police by ex-members alleging they'd been the victims of intimidation and extortion.
Justice officials seized financial records, correspondence, bank statements and other papers in their decade-long probe to track the flow of money to Scientology. Police also raided the offices of several consultancy firms linked to the Church of Scientology.
Belgium, Germany and other European countries have been criticized by the State Department for labeling Scientology as a cult or sect and enacting laws to restrict its operations.
The German government considers Scientology a commercial enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people.
The German government considers Scientology a commercial enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people.