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Trial of the guru in Dijon: followers speak of "love" and contradict the accusers

2021-11-23T11:04:38.266Z


The current members of the “Love and Mercy” community opposed the “love” and “generosity” of Éliane Deschamps on Tuesday, November 23, ...


The current members of the “

Love and Mercy

” community on Tuesday, November 23 opposed the “

love

” and “

generosity

” of Éliane Deschamps, accused of sectarian practices, to the stories of “

hold

” made by former followers, treated as "

liars

" and "

manipulators

".

Read also She says she hears the Virgin: a woman guru judged this Monday in Dijon

Contrary to what the accusers say, there was "

no

slavery at

all

", assures Anne-Marie Antiphon, 61, at the helm. “

The tasks were shared, the cooking, the dishes. We all got our hands dirty,

”she says. As for the “

punishments

” denounced by the civil parties, it was more a question of “

adjustments

” in order to “

settle friction

”, she said. "

They didn't give rise to punishment, but to a lot of love and encouragement to do better

." "

There was no hold,

" she asserts, claiming to be "

free

".

I have always been free. I'm going to the right, to the left,

”adds Dominique Balestrat, 64, also a member of the group founded in 1999 by the one who says she receives the Virgin Mary every 15th of the month at 12:06 am. "

I do not understand why this trial is taking place,

" concludes Dominique Balestrat. "

No one has ever forced me to do anything

" in "

the prayer group

", also affirms Christophe Carthy, 53, who says he joined the community twenty years ago today installed in Petit-Noir. (Jura), attracted by “

his freedom

”. Denying being "

in a cult

", the muscular and nervous fitness teacher vehemently challenges being "

a vulnerable person.

As some civil parties have said.

Éliane Deschamps still impassive

On Monday, former followers recounted a life "

under the thumb

" of the woman guru, accusing her of allowing herself to be "

fully supported

" by members of her community, reduced to the state of "

slaves

".

”And forced to“

donate

”.

The defendant, aged 67, remains as always impassive, seated in a wheelchair and connected to an oxygen cylinder, face masked barely visible under a cap. At her side, appears her alleged accomplice Daniel Delestrac, 75, a former member of the Church of Scientology and prosecuted, like her, for "

fraudulent abuse of the ignorance or weakness of a person by the leader of a group pursuing activities creating, maintaining or exploiting the psychological subjection of the participants

”.

In an investigation attached to the thick investigation file of seven volumes, the Interministerial Mission in charge of the fight against sects (Miviludes) evokes "

sectarian excesses

" and "

a process of control over members, of rupture with the 'family and social environment and financial pressures

'.

To read also "I was in total submission": followers confide in the "hold" of the guru Éliane Deschamps

Ten civil parties are represented in this trial which is due to end on Tuesday after nearly twenty years of proceedings which have worn out three investigating judges.

The defendants are liable to five years in prison and a fine of 750,000 euros.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-11-23

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