AUSTRALIA: Court rulings support sect's harassment of freelance journalist

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) today condemned intimidation and harassment of Australian freelance journalist John Macgregor by the Elan Vital sect and a series of rulings by the Queensland Supreme Court in Elan Vitalıs favour which pose a threat to press freedom

Pacific Media Watch
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

PARIS (RSF/Pacific Media Watch): Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) today condemned intimidation and harassment of Australian freelance journalist John Macgregor by the Elan Vital sect and a series of rulings by the Queensland Supreme Court in Elan Vitalıs favour which pose a threat to press freedom.

The organisation said it has written to Press Council chairman Ken McKinnon and attorney-general Philip Ruddock asking them to ensure that press freedom is guaranteed in coverage of Elan Vitalıs activities.

The Supreme Court of the north-eastern state of Queensland ordered a search of Macgregorıs personal computer in its most recent ruling, on 1 March 2004. Macgregor stated on that occasion that he had been harassed by Australian members of Elan Vital, an international sect led by a guru known as Maharaji.

Macgregor had been unable to speak out previously because he had been subject to an 18-week ³gag order² issued by the court in October, banning him from talking or writing about this court case.

The gag order was obtained on October 23 by the law firm Quinn and Scattini, acting for Ivory's Rock Conference Centre (IRCC), a company linked to Elan Vital. At the same time, the law firm obtained permission from the court to search Macgregorıs computer to find out his sources for 11 compromising documents he had received from the husband of a follower of the sect. The ruling was obtained without Macgregorıs knowledge and he would have been in contempt of court if he told anyone about it.

As a result of this ruling, the sect watched Macgregor and threatened him. Two lawyers and a computer technician went to his home in the south-western city of Perth on October 24 and told him private detectives had been watching him for several days. They threatened to have him arrested if he did not let them check his computer. Macgregor refused to let them do this.

Macgregor appealed against the ruling on November 6, but it was upheld by the supreme court. As a result, the sectıs lawyers were able to make copies of files and personal emails on Macgregorıs laptop. On November 21, the court fined Macgregor A$2000 (more than 1,000 euros) and ordered him to pay IRCCıs costs, which could be at least A$58,000 (about 35,000 euros).

Macgregor told Reporters Without Borders he is not backed by any news organisation. His lawyer, Ian Cunliffe, will try to obtain a reduction in the amount at the next hearing, on April 15. But IRCCıs lawyers have undertaken to initiate another lawsuit against Macgregor.

In December, the sectıs lawyer wrote to employers of Macgregor accusing him of stealing documents with the aim of harming Maharaji, the sectıs leader. Macgregor was portrayed as the head of a conspiracy against Elan Vital.

Macgregor told Reporters Without Borders that the lawsuits and the other resources deployed by the sect were aimed at silencing him on the eve of Maharajiıs arrival in Australia next month.

A member of the sect in the 1970s, Macgregor wrote several articles for Australian newspapers in 2002, including The West Australian and Good Weekend, accusing the sect and its leader of financial and sexual misconduct.

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Pacific Media Watch information is at the bottom of this column.

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Elan Vital denies Macgregor's charges and describes him as engaging in hate speech on the part of a hate group. Click here to see their March 9, 2004 press release.

Click here to visit the Elan Vital website.

John Macgregor is protesting Elan Vital's efforts in part through mass emails to journalists and organizations. On March 11, 2004, Sally Jackson noted in The Australian that Macgregor, a member of the Elan Vital group for 28 years, had received the George Munster Award for Independent Journalism (in 2001) and quoted one of his messages: "I have been silenced for four months by a Supreme Court gag order gained by a religious cult I exposed... The only arrow I have left in my quiver is public scrutiny of this. I believe it is in the interest of all journalists that the story is covered."

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Date Posted: 3/17/2004