From: kspaink@xs4all.nl (Karin Spaink)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: DUTCH REPORT: Preparing for court
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 1995 16:12:13 GMT
Message-ID: <4a1pul$jk@news.xs4all.nl>

And again, another follow-up.

The media are getting more and more interested. On Saturday, November
25, the newspaper "Het Parool" devoted a full page to the case.
Journalist Addie Schulte interviewed both CoS-spokeswoman Julia
Rijnvis and me, and wrote a thorough article on the upcoming court
case. Julia Rijnvis was not pleased.

Last Sunday (December 3), I was a guest in RUR, a very popular weekly
semi-live talkshow. I was the first of the three guests and was
invited to talk about the upcoming court case. All in all, I got to
talk about 15 minutes - not all about Scientology, but enough. One of
the other guest, writer Tim Krabbe, publicly applauded the courage of
anybody who dared oppose CoS; the other guest, news anchorwoman
Loretta Schrijver, later phoned me to tell they would probably cover
the court session in their news program.

Next week a big magazine (devoted to a combination of human interest,
sports and politics) will publish a huge article on Scientology; and
Hollands biggest news magazine will publish a part of my defense.
Various television programs have also expressed their interest in the
court case.

On Monday, December 11, just three days before the court session,
there is a big meeting in Amsterdam, entitled 'Never Defend, Always
Attack' (yeah, we borrowed that one for the occasion). Various people
involved will speak out: Oussama Cherribi, the member of parliament
who had a Fishman-homepage will talk about the importance of the
protest; Felipe Rodriquez, director of XS4ALL, will explain about the
research he did into CoS; I will read parts of my defense.
        Various actors and actresses will be invited to read parts from other
people's Affidavits and exerpts of books, in order to illustrate the
ways in which CoS tries to silence its critics.
        Also, the defend fund will be presented: some people have set up a
foundation which will raise money for the defense.
        The main guest of the evening will be...  STEVEN FISHMAN himself.
Felipe and I have invited him to talk about his experiences in
Scientology and his reasons for submitting part of the OT's in his
court case. He will spend several days in Amsterdam and already
various journalists have stated that they'd love to interview him. He
will be attending the court session as well. Measures have been taken
to guard his personal safety. Steven is delighted to know that we will
meet soon, and the people involved in the Dutch Protest are most
honoured by his visit.

The court session will be on Thursday, December 14th. It is mainly
paperwork. Both sides have already presented the main parts of their
argument to the judge in written form. At the court session, both
sides will attempt to summarize their main points; the judge may want
to ask some of those involved to answer a few quesions, but that
seldom occurs.
        After both lawyers have presented their case, the court will retreat.
Judgement is expected in two or three weeks following the session.
        It is already apparent that many people want to be present at the
session: participants, supporters, journalists, civil servants, people
from the Ministry of Juridical Affairs, and of course CoS-members. The
largest room in the court has been reserved for the case, but we
expect it to be crammed anyway.

groet,
     Karin Spaink

- I write, therefore I am:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink