Anonymous Protest Against Scientology, Dublin

For immediate release
Source: Anonymous

Anonymous Protest Against Scientology

DUBLIN, Ireland - 10/02/2008 11:00:00 AM GMT - An enigmatic group of Internet activists, calling themselves 'Anonymous', has declared war on the Church of Scientology. The group's goals include bringing an end to both the Church's restrictions of free speech, and its violation of basic human rights, not only those of its members, but also of its detractors. As part of this global mobilisation, the Irish members of this group have pledged to take the campaign to the streets of Dublin, in the form of a non-violent protest outside Scientology's headquarters on Middle Abbey Street on Sunday, 10th February 2008.
 
On January 16, 2008, a video clip of Tom Cruise extolling the virtues of Scientology was leaked to the Internet. The Church claimed that this violated copyright, and forced sites such as YouTube to remove the embarrassing footage under threat of litigation. In response, Anonymous has called on its members to rise up against the Church, in what has come to be known as 'Project Chanology' Up til now, the attacks have ranged from the leaking of important Scientology documents, to prank phone calls and the faxing of black pages to waste ink, to the use of a method called 'Google bombing', a manipulation of the search engine which has resulted in the website being the first result returned by Google when users type "dangerous cult". The Church has appeared to be powerless to stop the guerilla action. The next phase of the campaign will take it into the "real world" with a worldwide wave of protesting outside Church properties on the tenth of February.

The Church of Scientology is often accused of racketeering and fraud. A number of court cases have been filed against the Church of Scientology in its history, including USA vs. Mary Sue Hubbard, where the wife of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was convicted of conspiracy against the US government. The Church has also been implicated in several deaths due to neglect or malice, such as Lisa McPherson's reported death in the custody of the Church. Controversial policies it espouses include forced abortions and brainwashing. It has historically attempted to silence and harass its opponents, as in Operation Freakout, a church campaign targeting Paulette Cooper, author of The Scandal of Scientology. Here in Ireland controversial episodes have included psychological abuse and intimidation (Mary Johnson) and the disappearance of members (e.g. Odhran Fortune, Tony Phelan)

In a video posted on YouTube, which has now been watched more than 1.9 million times, the group says: "With the leakage of your latest propaganda video into mainstream circulation, the extent of your malign influence over those who have come to trust you as leaders has been made clear to us."

"Anonymous has therefore decided that your organisation should be destroyed, for the good of your followers, for the good of mankind, and for our own enjoyment.

"We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."

Anonymous has informed the Gardaí of its intention to protest peacefully under provision 40.6.2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland.

10/02/2008
Assembly from 11:00
62/63 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609174
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ
http://xenu.strangled.net.nyud.net

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For more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please e-mail Anonymous at anonymousireland@gmail.com