From Cults Outlawed by the Assembly
Libération, May 31, 2001, by Daniel Licht
By this France places itself at the forefront of countries endowed with specific legislation against cultish deviances. With major innovations, such as power conferred on the legal system to definitively dissolve and to forbid the reestablishment of condemned groups. Often controlling prolific financing, cults will also be pounded in the pocketbook. The text plans to condemn at a fine of 5 million francs ( 760 000 euro) [$643,987.80 USD] and five years of imprisonment for the leaders of groups whose activities consist in maintaining or in exploiting "the psychological or physical subjection of the persons who participate in these activities."
. . . The representatives abandoned the "offence of mental manipulation," an idea which had been denounced by officials of various denominations and by the National Consultative Commission of Human Rights. By retaining the older idea--one that harks back to the Napoleonic Code--of "deceitful abuse of a state of ignorance or of weakness," the Assembly makes a success of a subtle tightrope walk between repression of intellectual swindles, attacks on the dignity of the individual, and respect for freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. "We are by no means condemning beliefs. We simply target all groups that step outside the frame of the law under various pretexts, be they spiritual, ethnological,or philosophic, and that commit extortions with regard to the penal code," clarifies Catherine Picard.
rough translation from: http://www.multimania.com/tussier/rev0105.htm#31
Ginny
NOTE: I have used the word “cult” to translate the French word “secte.” Here’s why:
There is need for some clarification on terminology. In English, the erm "cult" is widely understood to be a pejorative term, whereas "sect" more generally refers to a branch or division within a religion. In French, the term "culte" is a neutral term that refers to religious bodies, whereas "secte" generally now is employed as a pejorative term (although it also has a technical meaning). When "secte" is used by Francophone governments, whether in France, Belgium, or the French-speaking areas of Switzerland, it is understood to be a derogatory term. In German, "Sekten" generally has the same negative connotations as the French "sectes." Thus the more accurate translation of the German "Sekten" and the French "sectes," is the English word "cults."
From ttp://www.house.gov/international_relations/full/relminor/gunn.htm