Between the town hall of Saint-Denis and the Church of Scientology, the standoff had lasted for several years. Finally, justice reiterates its decision and ruled in favor of the Church, which can set up one of its centers in the Plaine district. The municipal decree which prevented it is canceled. If several elected officials of the city had publicly shown themselves hostile to this project, the administrative court of appeal of Paris considers that the refusal of the work fell within a “abuse of power” from the municipality.
The mayor PCF refused the creation of the establishment
Go back. In 2017, a real estate company, Building Investments Group, acquired an office building of more than 7,000 m² in Saint-Denis and sought to set up the Scientology training center there. This religious movement, born in the United States, is considered in France as a sect, according to several parliamentary reports. “It is one of the most dangerous sects, the most effective and the most greedy for gain”, testified the Communist deputy Jean-Pierre Brard in 2009, who spoke of a “Diabolical system, where we take advantage of the weakness of people”.
In 2019, the PCF municipality refused the creation of such an establishment open to the public, pointing to flaws in fire safety and accessibility for people with disabilities. The real estate company then took legal action. According to her, the reasons put forward by the Communist mayor Laurent Russier were only a pretext. The Church had, already for the first time, obtained satisfaction in October 2020 with the cancellation of the municipal decree. The Montreuil court then explained that a “Bundle of concordant clues [démontrait] in fact that the mayor had exercised his powers for a purpose other than the preservation of the safety and accessibility of the premises ”. A decision confirmed on appeal on Tuesday. Justice is asking the city of Saint-Denis, now headed by the socialist Mathieu Hanotin, to re-examine the work authorization request within three months.