Looks like it's going to be an interesting week...

http://gawker.com/5753356/the-fbi-is-in ... rafficking

This is bittersweet, though. It should have been reported years ago.

[...]

According to the article, agents from an FBI task force on human trafficking have been interviewing former members of Scientology about abuse in the church since at least December, 2009, and the case remains open. Why human trafficking?

Lawrence writes:

The laws regarding trafficking were built largely around forced prostitution, but they also pertain to slave labor. Under federal law, slavery is defined, in part, by the use of coercion, torture, starvation, imprisonment, threats, and psychological abuse. The California penal code lists several indicators that someone may be a victim of human trafficking: signs of trauma or fatigue; being afraid or unable to talk, because of censorship by others or security measures that prevent communication with others; working in one place without the freedom to move about; owing a debt to one's employer; and not having control over identification documents. Those conditions echo the testimony of many former Sea Org members...

[...]

New Yorker article does mention FBI and even names agents.

Protester AnonOrange was called recently by a fact checker from the New Yorker. AO confirms the article "airs" 2/7/2011. AO is not 100% certain but he believes it is supposed to be as long/big an article as the original one that got Time Magazine in hot water.

UH-OH Scientology Hit With Trafficking Probe

Bad news for Tom Cruise: The Church of Scientology, a small, secretive religion that has attracted many members of Hollywood’s elite including Cruise and John Travolta, is under investigation by the FBI’s task force on human trafficking, according to an article in this week’s New Yorker. The article, which focuses on former Scientologist Paul Haggis (director of Million Dollar Baby and Crash), reveals that the FBI’s probe has been ongoing for more than a year, and homes in on the sections of trafficking laws regarding “slavery.” Many former Scientologists have reported brutal treatment by the sect, such as invasion of privacy, censorship, and financial exploitation.

Read it at Gawker
[this is the same link as posted earlier in the thread]

The Church of Scientology is being investigated by the FBI for human trafficking, it has been alleged.

Part of the probe is believed to surround the cult's mysterious leader David Miscavige, a close friend of actor Tom Cruise who was best man at his wedding, who allegedly doled out regular beatings to unruly members.

It also concerns alleged 'enslavement' of members of Scientology's religious order, 'Sea Org'.

The sensational claims have been made in a28-page article published in American magazine The New Yorker, which includes a lengthy interview with Hollywood screenwriter and ex-Scientologist Paul Haggis, writer of Million Dollar Baby and Casino Royale.

Most of the claims focus on Gold Base, a Scientology outpost in the desert near Hemet, eighty miles southeast of Los Angeles, where Miscavige has an office.

There, it says, Scientology leaders are encouraged 'to instill aggressive, even violent, discipline'.
The journalist writes: 'The California penal code lists several indicators that someone may be a victim of human trafficking: signs of trauma or fatigue; being afraid or unable to talk, because of censorship by others or security measures that prevent communication with others; working in one place without the freedom to move about; owing a debt to one's employer; and not having control over identification documents'.

[PHOTO: Dear leader: David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Centre and leader of the Scientology religion, allegedly issued beatings to members]

[PHOTO: Nerve centre: Church leaders have allegedly developed a 'blow drill' to track down members who leave Gold Base, above, and bring them back]

He goes on to claim: 'Those conditions echo the testimony of many former Sea Org members.'

One former member told the magazine: 'I understood that the [FBI] investigation had been going on for quite a while.'

Another added: 'They wanted a full download about the abuse.'

One ex-Scientologist alleges that punishments included being sent to the 'Hole' - a pair of 'double-wide trailers' on the base where between eighty and a hundred people were sentenced to 'do group confessions all day and all night'.

However, the Church deny the existence of 'any place of confinement' on the base.
Another interviewee claims Church leaders had developed a 'blow drill' to track down members who left Gold Base.

The journalist writes: 'When emotional, spiritual, or psychological pressure failed to work . . . physical force was sometimes used to bring escapees back.'

Sea Org members who have 'failed to fulfill their ecclesiastical responsibilities' could be sent to one of the church’s Rehabilitation Project Force locations, described as 'punitive re-education camps'.
Re-education can include manual labour or 'extensive spiritual work', the magazine claims.

The ongoing FBI investigation also focuses on Miscavige's alleged 'Hollywood-star' lifestyle.
US law bans the head of a tax-exempt organisation from enjoying 'unusual perks or compensation', called inurement.

Although the church 'vigorously objects to the suggestion that Church funds inure to the private benefit of Mr. Miscavige', he was one year gifted a Vyrus 985 C3 4V superbike worth £43,000, the magazine claims.

[PHOTO: U.S. actor Tom Cruise is a prominent member of the Church of Scientology]

The New Yorker paints an unflattering picture of Miscavige, who appears to rule the organization with an iron fist.

'His word is absolute', it says, 'and he imposes his will even on some of the people closest to him.'

FBI investigates Church of Scientology over claims of human trafficking, enslavement and violence
By Tom Leonard
Last updated at 1:02 PM on 8th February 2011

The FBI is investigating the Church of Scientology over allegations of human trafficking, it is claimed.
Federal investigators have been interviewing former members of the controversial organisation, which counts Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its followers, over allegations of enslavement and violent treatment.
According to the New Yorker magazine, the FBI is also investigating allegations surrounding David Miscavige - the group’s leader and the best man at Cruise’s wedding - who has been accused of repeatedly hitting youngsters.

In an interview with the magazine, Hollywood director Paul Haggis spoke out for the first time over his embittered decision to leave Scientology.

‘I was in a cult for 34 years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t,’ said Mr Haggis, who wrote Million Dollar Baby and Casino Royale.

The FBI investigators have interviewed former members in California and Clearwater, Florida, where Scientology - regarded in many countries as a cult - has its spiritual HQ.

Even though it has just become public, the investigation has been going on for a year.

Allegations of abuse against Mr Miscavige, 50, were made in 2009 but the FBI’s involvement indicates that it was not satisfied by the church’s claim that the accusations were simply concocted by embittered former members.

Many of the accusations against the organisation centre on Gold Base, Scientology’s nerve centre in the Californian desert.

It is the home for many members of Sea Org, its elite ‘religious order’ of young devotees.
Many join Scientology as teenagers and, at Gold Base, church leaders are allegedly encouraged to ‘instill aggressive, even violent discipline’.

Some Sea Org defectors have described ‘punitive re-education’ programmes which have sometimes entailed years confined at rehabilitation camps doing manual labour and spiritual work.

An ex-Scientologist claimed that punishments at Gold Base included being sent to the ‘Hole’, a pair of extra-wide mobile homes on the base where between 80 and 100 people were ordered to take part in ‘group confessions all day and all night’.

Marty Rathbun, a former senior Scientology executive, claimed in court in July that Mr Miscavige once organised a brutal game of musical chairs at the Hole in which only the winner would be allowed to stay on the base.

Desperate not to be exiled from an organisation for which they had sacrificed their families, money and careers, church leaders ended up hitting each other to win the game, said Mr Rathbun.

Under California law, human trafficking covers slavery and defines victims by factors such as signs of trauma or fatigue, being afraid to talk because of censorship and working in one place without freedom to travel.
In a recent test case against the Scientologists, Marc and Claire Headley, two former Sea Org members, claimed they were treated like slaves and forced to work 20-hour days almost continually.

Mrs Headley said she was coerced into having an abortion.

A judge ruled against them after the church insisted religious workers were exempt from the usual rules but the couple are appealing.

The FBI, whose investigation reportedly remains open, would not comment.

The Church of Scientology was founded in 1953 by sci-fi writer L Ron Hubbard. The church dismissed the New Yorker’s claims as ‘little more than a regurgitation of old allegations that have long been disproved’.
Scientology defectors also reportedly told the FBI about Mr Miscavige’s luxurious lifestyle.
They insisted he lives more like a Hollywood star than a church leader, flying chartered jets, wearing custom-made shoes from London and building up a large car collection.

US TV. This morning, The Today Show is supposed to be doing an item on the FBI investigating the cult of scientology.
Those of you can can watch, please post a summary.

I saw this too late to see the segment live, but it's already up on NBC's website.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/#41456859