------------------------------------------------------------------- DOS FILENAME OF TEXT FILE: HELSINKI.TXT DOS FILENAME OF IMAGE FILES: ADMINISTRATIVE CODE: SECURITY CODE: DISTRIBUTION CODE: NAME FOR BBS: SORT TO: CONTRIBUTOR: JEFF JACOBSEN LOC. OF ORIG: SCOTTSDALE, AZ NOTES: A TRANSLATION FROM FINNISH OF ARTICLES ON SCIENTOLOGY For additional verification see image files contained in the file with same name and .ZIP extension. UPDATED ON: UPDATED BY: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note that this is an informal translation by a native Finn, recorded onto audio tape and transcribed by me. Tuesday, January 9, 1990 Iltalehti Newspaper, Helsinki, Finland SCANDAL IN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE Three of President Koivisto's bodyguards exposed as Scientologists. The Investigative Bureau found out in their investigations that three of President Koivisto's bodyguards turned out to be Scientologists, members of a strange American religious group. The police discovered this in investigations of fi- nancial dealings of the church. After this was exposed, the three had to leave their positions. The police found out about the Scientologists in the Spring of 1989 when they were looking into Scientology dealings with the banks. They found out that hundreds of Scientologists had gotten loans with co-signers who cross-signed for each other. When the police were looking over these names they found a real surprise; there were three active church members who were President Koivisto's bodyguards. The Investigative Bureau and the Se- curity chief interogated the three. Two of them had to leave the Palace in February, 1989, be- cause their membership in this ill-famed church was seen as a security risk. The two were transferred to the Helsinki air- port. A higher officer was fired around March of 1989, and there were investigations of his private life which showed he had spent 100,000 marks [$25,000 US] on church courses. All three had traveled to the U.S. where Scientology is headquar- tered. The higher officer is now working for a private busi- ness which bases its product on the church's teachings. Did the president know about this? The security chief, Markku Koivu, did not want to comment on any of this. "Well... well, what can I say? I know exactly who has been in our service, and I know what they have been doing, but we just don't talk about these things." Esa Tarvainen, Koivisto's military advisor, also refused to speak about this case. "It is true that three men have been looking for another job, but that's all I want to say about it. These are things we just don't want to speak about in public. When it comes to the President's security, we don't talk about it publicly." He was asked if the President knew about this situation, and replied "No comment." The investigative bureau and the criminal police had a private meeting with the banks last spring concerning Scientologists' financial difficulties. The banks were con- cerned about these cross-signing loans that were used on self-development courses. The investigations into the Church of Scientology have been turned over to the criminal police. They now have three large files on the church and have found hundreds of people victimized by the church. January 10, 1990 Iltalehti Newspaper, Helsinki, Finland SCIENTOLOGY DROVE ARI TO SUICIDE The American-based Church of Scientology has caused a very difficult situation in 26-year old Ari Salosen's life. All the people close to him have already been destroyed. Ari, who has loans that reach 400,000 marks [$100,000 US] has con- sidered suicide. YOUNG ARI'S BITTER TALE: SCIENTOLOGY HAS DESTROYED MY LIFE Ari Salonen's painful experience began in Sweden in 1982. "Scientologists destroyed my life totally. My brother died of drugs. My close friend committed suicide. My little sis- ter is totally brainwashed, and my other sister's family has been broken from the church pressure. I myself have been completely changed and I am all the time very close to sui- cide." When Ari finally got out of the church's grip, he had loans which came up to almost 500,000 marks. And now Ari wants to tell his story. He wants to talk himself out of Scientology and get their teachings out of himself. He also wants to warn others. He thinks no one should be exposed to this church to get hooked. When Ari was less than 20 he was fertile ground for the church's teachings. His parents had been divorced and he was living in Stockholm, Sweden with his brother. They were both looking for themselves and for meaning in their lives. Ev- erything began with a free personality test. "First we just took a few very inexpensive courses, but then they began to get more and more expensive and went up to 20-30,000 Swedish crowns [around $5000 US]." Soon Ari realized that he was de- pendent on their auditing sessions. One hour of this therapy cost about 1500 crowns [$300 US]. "Every time when I went to a session I had to use some vitamins, and every time they asked me specifically if I had been taking my pills. I don't know what was in them, but I had the feeling I was one god. But after the auditing the feeling left me and I felt like I was on drugs. I had to get more and go back for more ses- sion." The church says they are striving for mental completeness, but this is not how Ari experienced it. "In the end every- thing I did was wrong. For them, only being there was the right thing to do." The church is being accused of shameless greed for their courses. The church is organized for signing each other's loan pa- pers so they can pay for their courses. "The church has a long list of banks where you can get loans without a co-signer. They also teach you how to talk with a bank man- ager so you can get a loan. When you go to the bank you have a support person with you, who is there not just out of his own good will. He gets 15% of the loan, so that's why they go. One time I got a 100,000 crown loan, and right away I gave 15,000 to the support person who was there with me." This incredible greediness was explained by saying that you have to pay for everything. "They say their help is so valueable that you must pay for it." Finally, Ari was in a situation where he had several loans, and loans to pay back those loans, totaling almost 500,000 marks [$125,000 US]. The final result is not any clearing of the spirit. "I have completely lost my will to live, and my life is just hell." Without the help of his un- derstanding girlfriend, Ari couldn't have made it this far. But his older brother didn't fare as well. He was completely consumed by the church and couldn't get out. He got involved in drugs also, and now Ari blames the church for his brother's suicide. "First you have to take loans for the auditing sessions, then finally you are so in debt you get mentally depressed." The church is based on complete control. At one point Ari was spending all the time every day at the church. "And when my brother died, I just collapsed. I went to the church and told them I don't want anything to do with them anymore. But even after that the church didn't want to give up." Only af- ter he returned to Finland was he able to get away from the church. Now he gets strength from his fight against the church and now he wants to expose how they work. January 10, 1990 Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, Helsinki Finland THREE PRESIDENTIAL GUARDS RESIGN BECAUSE OF SCIENTOLOGY Two of the president's bodyguards resigned in order to de- vote themselves to the American-based cult Scientology. The third who was also involved in the church left his position, but seems to still be working for the police force. One of them has started a consulting business based on Scientology's teachings which gives personality tests to potential employ- ees of companies that hire him. In an interview with this man, he said he left his job willingly and with no misunder- standings. Esa Tarvainen, a Presidential aide, refused to comment on the event. As far as he is concerned, this is all in the past. "I have worked for the President for five years and during this time no one has been fired but it is true that within the last two and a half years, three men have re- signed." But he wouldn't say if the President's office ap- plied pressure on the men. "This is a security matter, and we don't want any public discussion on it." According to him, belonging to a religious group might be a security risk. It depends on the organization and it's goals. [Here is a short reasonably accurate overview of Scientology teaching that I chose not to include] The Finnish Scientology association was founded almost six years ago, and works under the Swedish organization. The worldwide organization is being led from the United States. It has been critisized for brainwashing and greediness. They begin with free personality testing which leads to very ex- pensive courses in the United States. According to Seppo Tiitisen, an Investigative Bureau chief, belonging to a religious organization is not enough grounds for firing a police officer. But of course it's a different thing if this has other effects like taking too much of their time. He refused to comment on this case, but did say the police were looking into Scientology. "Scientology is a cult-based organization, and there have been many of those. We looked into Scientology and have transferred investigations to the criminal police when we found out there was nothing unusually criminal about the or- ganization." They looked into Scientology in 1989 in connec- tion with the banking procedures with co-signers, but did not find out enough to warrant continuing the investigation. Lately there have not been any investigations into the orga- nization.