France
Eguilles and Lyon: June 9, 1993-February 24, 2000

From 1991 to 1993, French police conducted a secret but extensive investigation of the Family, code-named "Operation Moses." They were supplied misinformation about the Family by a French anti-cult organization, the Association for the Defense of the Family and Individual (ADFI), as well as by some disaffected ex-Family members.

On June 9, 1993 at 6 AM, 200 heavily armed police staged paramilitary-style raids on two Family communities in Eguilles and Lyon, injuring and brutalizing some Family members (none of whom resisted arrest). Authorities arrested 22 adults and placed 80 children in state custody. Family members were accused of child abuse, child prostitution, and lack of medical and physical care for their children. Police searched Family residences for 10 hours, and found no evidence of wrongdoing. Court-appointed doctors thoroughly examined all the children, but detected no signs of neglect or abuse.

Authorities released all the adults after 48 hours for lack of evidence. On June 16, all 33 children in Lyon were returned to their parents. The Prosecuting Attorney of Lyon appealed this decision, requesting that the custody of the children be retained by the state. The Appeals Court dismissed this appeal, upholding the original decision in favor of the children.¹ By the end of September 1993 the case had been dismissed for all the families residing in Lyon.

On July 29, after 51 days of separation, the children from the Eguilles community were also released to their parents. A provisional ruling by Judge Permingeat of the Minors Court of Aix-en-Provence (for the Eguilles community) stated that the Family children had not suffered any abuse, but nevertheless required them to engage in court-supervised weekly "socialization activities" for a 12-month period, paid for by the State. The parents remained free to continue their missionary activities and educate their children at home.

Asserting that such socialization activities were taking place without further need for court supervision, the parents and children objected to unwarranted state intrusion in their lives. An appeal was lodged, but did not come before the court during the 12-month period.
In March 1994 the presiding judge resolved to extend this program for another year, based on his belief that life in a religious community did not offer adequate education for children. In December 1994 Judge Permingeat terminated this order, which should have otherwise expired in March 1995.

Meanwhile, a criminal investigation carried out over a several-year period aimed at the adult members of the communities produced no evidence of wrongdoing, and the case was officially closed in January 1999. After five years of investigation the prosecutor concluded that there was "no proof, photos or medical evidence" to substantiate the charges and recommended the case be closed without being brought to trial. Judge Assonion of the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Aix-en-Provence accepted this recommendation, closing the proceedings in January 1999, officially acquitting Family members of all charges.

An appeal was promptly lodged to this ruling by ADFI, which was rejected by the courts on February 24, 2000, putting a definitive end to this investigation. The closure of this case in favor of Family members was considered a serious blow to ADFI, whose reports to officials were proven to be unsubstantiated. European lawyer and scholar of religion Massimo Introvigne stated in a press release:

Six years after the raids, the Justice Court of Aix-en-Provence has vindicated the Family. All defendants have been found not guilty and acquitted. The decision is a major embarrassment for ADFI and the French anti-cult milieu. ADFI lawyer Jean-Michel Pesenti criticized the court and ADFI called the decision "a catastrophe." Basically, the decision embarrasses ADFI and the governmental Mission to Fight Cults (whose key members have always taken for granted that the Family was guilty).

But we do not hear apologies for the unnecessary suffering caused to adults, teenagers, and children in the brutal 1993 raids.²

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Footnotes:
¹ Minors Court of Appeal, Case No. 114/93, Lyon, France, July 23, 1993.

² CESNUR press release, January 1999: "The Family Vindicated by French Court-'Catastrophe' for the Anti-Cult Movement, ADFI and the Government Mission to Fight Cults."