Headquarters of the Church of Scientology in Paris (illustrative image).

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LOIC VENANCE / AFP

The justice canceled a municipal decree which prevented the installation in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) of the training center of the Church of Scientology, announced Thursday the administrative court of Montreuil.

The town hall (PS) announced in a statement that it would appeal this decision.

In 2017, a real estate company, Building Investments Group, acquired an office building in Saint-Denis to install the Scientology training center, classified in France as a sect by several parliamentary reports.

On September 16, 2019, the former municipality PCF had refused the creation of an establishment open to the public, citing deficiencies in fire safety and accessibility for people with disabilities.

The opposition of the town hall questioned

A decree contested by the real estate company, which affirmed that "the refusal of authorization had not been opposed because of risks for the safety of people or the accessibility of the premises, but because of the wish of the local authorities to s' oppose the presence of the Church of Scientology in the commune, ”according to the court statement.

On Wednesday, justice agreed with him, estimating "that a bundle of corroborating evidence established that the mayor had exercised his powers for a purpose other than the preservation of the safety and accessibility of the premises".

In particular, she underlined that some of the opposing “breaches” were “non-existent” and that others, “because of their easily regularizable nature, could have been the subject of simple prescriptions or reservations”.

In its file, Building Investments Group had also produced "several declarations, made between 2017 and 2019, by which elected officials of Saint-Denis had expressed their hostility to the installation of the Church of Scientology on their territory and their wish to mobilize the law to oppose it ”.

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  • Scientology

  • St Denis