Solar Temple cult re-trial postponed

GRENOBLE, France, Sept 22 (AFP) – A French court Monday delayed until June the trial on appeal of a Franco-Swiss conductor, Michel Tabachnik, suspected of helping to brainwash 74 members of the Solar Temple doomsday cult who died in the 1990s.

The second trial of Tabachnik, 60, which was due to start Monday, was brought by prosecutors who appealed his acquittal in an earlier trial in June 2001.

It was delayed Monday to June 14 at the request of two lawyers for some of the dead members’ families, as a criminal investigation has been launched against the main psychiatric expert in the case for allegedly violating client-lawyer and client-doctor privileges.

Tabachnik is suspected of contributing to the deaths between 1994-1997 of 74 members of the cult whose burned bodies were found in isloated woodland clearings in France, Switzerland and Canada.

Several of the dead were shot or asphyxiated in what were apparently ritual murders, although some are thought to have been willing participants in mass suicides.

Tabachnik, a former conductor of orchestras in France, Canada and New York has denied the charges and the first case against him collapsed because of lack of evidence.

During that trial, he told the court that he had been drawn into the cult by its charismatic guru, Joseph di Mambro, and its esoteric philosophy, part of which convinced followers that they must die in a blaze to attain bliss in the afterworld.

Among the dead were the two founders of the sect, Luc Jouret and Di Mambro.

Read Another Article

Christian Capitalism : Megachurches, Megabusinesses
French sect deaths case delayed

Related News Articles Topic(s): Order of the Solar Temple Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Order of the Solar Temple Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog