A Russian court ruled Monday that a cult leader facing fraud charges over his promises to help resurrect the dead will remain in custody, news reports said. Grigory Grabovoi — who has said he is the second coming of Jesus Christ and also claims to be able to cure AIDS and cancer, among other things — has been in custody since his April arrest
MOSCOW–Followers of a jailed cult leader who promised to help resurrect children who died in the Beslan school siege said Monday that he is being prosecuted for political reasons. Grigory Grabovoi, who says he is the second coming of Jesus Christ and claims to be able to cure AIDS and cancer, among other things, has been in custody since his April arrest on charges of defrauding clients, lawyer Vyacheslav Makarov told reporters. Grabovoi denies the charges, saying that he personally took no money from his clients, said Svetlana Komarova, a spokeswoman for Grabovoi’s party. Grabovoi’s followers say the arrest, which
MOSCOW, June 13 (Itar-Tass) – Prosecutors have requalified charges against sect leader Grigory Grabovoi from fraud to grand fraud, the defendant’s lawyer Anatoly Gromov told Itar-Tass. Grabovoi is facing a tougher penalty under new charges. “This offense in punishable by five to ten years in prison,” the lawyer noted. A criminal case against Grabovoi was opened on March 20, 2006. Among those who complained to police about Grabovoi were residents of Beslan, where he had held his seminars and promised to revive children killed in the Beslan hostage-taking raid. “The case was opened on the strength of the check into
MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – A Moscow court ruled Tuesday that a notorious sect leader who promised to resurrect children killed in the 2004 Beslan tragedy should remain in custody until August 6. A criminal case against Grigory Grabovoi, who claimed he could heal diseases and resurrect people and collected large sums of money from his victims, was opened March 20 after parents in Beslan demanded a probe into his activities. Grabovoi was arrested April 6. A total of 331 people died in the Beslan siege, including 186 children. Lawyers acting for Grigory Grabovoi had demanded their client be
MOSCOW, May 17 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow City Court ruled Wednesday that a notorious sect leader who promised to resurrect children killed in the 2004 Beslan tragedy should remain in custody while facing fraud charges. Lawyers acting for Grigory Grabovoi had demanded their client be released. A criminal case against Grabovoi, who claimed he could heal diseases and resurrect people and collected large sums of money from his victims, was opened March 20 after parents in Beslan demanded a probe into his activities. Grabovoi was arrested April 6. A total of 331 people died in the Beslan siege, including 186
Excerpt from report by Kazakh Channel 31 TV on 10 April The current situation around the NUR centre is still unclear. This is a branch of Grigoriy Grabovoy‘s organization in Almaty. . The first official responses by representatives of Russian Orthodox Church and Clerical Board of Muslims Of Kazakhstan was circulated in Almaty today. The official bodies have not commented yet on the activity of Grabovoy’s organization in Kazakhstan. Here is report by Dulat Satybaldyev. It turns out that religious freedom may be a dangerous thing. Father
MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – A lawyer for the head of a notorious sect who promised to resurrect children killed at Beslan has asked a court to release his client from custody, a court official said Monday. Grigory Grabovoi, detained last week on the suspicion of fraud, claimed that he could heal many diseases and even resurrect people. He collected large sums of money from the parents of children killed in the horrific school siege in September 2004. Igor Pavlov, a Moscow prosecutor, said a criminal case was opened against Grabovoi on March 20 after deceived parents demanded a
A Russian cult leader who promised to resurrect children who died in the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis was detained yesterday on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining money from people who trusted he could help them, Moscow prosecutors said. An investigation was opened into Grigory Grabovoi, a self-proclaimed healer who claimed he could cure cancer and AIDS as well as bring people back to life, after parents of those who died in the school massacre in the small southern Russian town demanded an inquiry. Mothers of several children who died in the Beslan attack attended a meeting of Grabovoi’s followers in
MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) – Russian police have detained a notorious sect leader who promised to resurrect children killed in the Beslan hostage tragedy on charges of defrauding people who believed he had special powers, prosecutors said on Thursday. Mothers of the dead children demanded a legal probe into Grigory Grabovoi after a seance shown on national television last September during which he said the children could return, if parents paid him enough money. Children made up more than half of the 331 people who died when a three-day siege of a school captured by pro-Chechen rebels collapsed into a
Omsk, December 20, Interfax – The sect of Grigoriy Grabovoy, who promised to resurrect Beslan children as far back as last autumn, has begun its activity in Omsk with opening its office right next to a church. It has been probably done to facilitate victim hunting. Indeed, a church is the first place to be sought by those who have lost their relatives or friends, the Komsomolskaya pravda daily writes on Tuesday. The sectarians charge over one thousand dollars for the resurrection of a dead. Before it, one has also to go through a costly training. And if an applicant