In the research work “Freedom of Religion or Belief. Anti-Sect Movements and State Neutrality. A Case Study: FECRIS,” published in 2013, the section “FECRIS and its Affiliates in France. The French Fight against the ‘Capture of Souls’” 1 is particularly noteworthy. Its author is Patricia Duval, an attorney and member of the Paris Bar. This section describes a real-life case where destructive activities of the anticult organization FECRIS resulted in tragic consequences for a man who became a victim of slanderous attacks.
In 2000, a French physician Yves Jullien committed suicide.
Here is a relevant excerpt from Patricia Duval’s essay.
Lethal Rumors
An article published in L’Yonne Républicaine newspaper of 20 June 2000 entitled “History of a Killing Rumor” reports on his suicide:
Accused of being the guru of a sect, the medical doctor has been the victim of a destructive harassment.
“What is the most difficult for me today is the way people look at me.” This is what Dr. Yves Jullien wrote little before his death. The meeting that took place a few days ago at the castle of L’Isle-sur-Serein (Avallonnais) 2, where he had created a therapeutic center in 1993, aimed at bringing to light the reasons which drove him to suicide. […] an act apparently prompted by a persistent rumor. This rumor, spread for several years in the Yonne Region 3, let people think that this doctor, beyond reproach otherwise, was the guru of a sect. The members of the purported sect, Epinoia, were living at the castle of Isle-sur-Serein and, according to the accusations, were having shady and disreputable activities. Former patients, parents, colleagues and friends of Yves Jullien came to bring their testimonies in the premises of Epinoia, the center where Dr. Jullien was taking care of drug addicts and psychotics, in particular. Purpose: rehabilitating the memory of a man whose name has been dragged to the mud although he was very respectable.
We often heard that Epinoia was a sect, even from authorized persons. […] Curious sect indeed which was curing patients sent by the psychiatric hospital of Auxerre 4, but also by the judiciary authorities. […] Why these rumors then? Why was it asserted that this doctor was not a doctor anymore, that he had been dismissed by the National Doctors Association? The rumor ran for several months. Unfounded.
But the members of Epinoia were living in community at the castle of Isle-sur-Serein. Their look of old-fashioned 70s freaks was shocking locally. From there, there was only one step to conclude that Epinoia was a sectarian movement, and the plunge was taken blithely.
The journalist concluded his article by the following words: “Yves Jullien has been trampled on because he was using therapies which were his own, because he was practicing off the beaten track with the fringe elements of society whom he cared about. He was disturbing, even though he was not openly opposing the system. He was just asking for the right to be different. This right has been denied to him.”
An interesting program was dedicated to this case on national TV Channel France 2 on 21 March 2001. The reporter interviewed Janine Tavernier, the then President of UNADFI 5, and asked if UNADFI had done an investigation. Mrs. Tavernier answered:
“We do not do investigations. Indeed our role is extremely difficult, extremely perilous because our association is there to denounce the acts of sects, of persons who trap future victims, but our role is also to meet victims of sects (…)
Journalist: But in this precise case of Maya Blache [Dr. Jullien’s wife], you have made a conclusion on all that, you say we do not do investigations, but you still gave an opinion?
Jeanine Tavernier: Well, a person called us to say that she heard that a person who heads this center would be a member of… I think it was Sai Baba (…)
Journalist: This is an Indian guru.
Jeanine Tavernier: He is an Indian guru, and we said that it was true that she had been for some time with Sai Baba, but that is all. But it is true that it poses certain problems. What should we say, what shouldn’t we say? (…)
Journalist: So, for me to understand, Jeanine Tavernier, this is not to accuse you but you just said, when you were called, “yes, this woman knew the Indian guru”.
Tavernier: Yes, that’s all.
Journalist: That’s all but it’s a lot.
Jeanine Tavernier: Yes, but this is because we are all the time solicited. It is terrible because in that case it is true that now we have to be very careful. Indeed, all we say becomes so serious because we are a known and recognized association, and I believe we have to be even more prudent. We said yes, we heard that she had been in India, that she knew Sai Baba, that’s all.
Journalist: But now, do you regret it?
Jeanine Tavernier: Yes, of course.
Mrs. Tavernier added: “I hope it’s not only because of us (…) this information, but this is very interesting, it makes me think because it’s a tragedy.”
This is the period of time when Mrs. Tavernier resigned from her functions at UNADFI and quit the group because she realized, as she herself stated, that they were engaged in witch hunting. This mode of operation, of gathering information based on rumors and prejudice, did not stop with Mrs. Tavernier’s questioning and resignation.
Just imagine, the death of a man, directly caused by the activities of UNADFI led by Jeanine Tavernier, made her think that criticizing people can be dangerous. It seems they have been playing and continue to play toys, spreading false rumors and prejudices, ruining people’s destinies and plunging them into an agonizing position in society.
Sources:
1. Human Rights Without Frontiers International (HRWF)
2. L’Isle-sur-Serein — a municipality in France, Burgundy region, Yonne department; Population — 660 people (2021). The municipality is located southeast of Paris, approximately 190 km away.
3. Yonne — a department in eastern France, one of the departments in the Burgundy region.
4. Auxerre — a city and commune in France, the prefecture (administrative center) of the Yonne department. It is situated on the banks of the Yonne River; according to the latest census, the city population is 34,778 people.
5. UNADFI – The National Union of Associations for the Defense of the Family and thePerson is a French anti-cult association founded in 1974, recognized by decree of 30 April 1996 as a public association, and receiving direct subsidies from the French State. It unites and coordinates the activities of the Associations for the Defense of the Family and the Individual (ADFI), whose aim is to collect information on the cult phenomenon.
