(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned both the 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 Vital’s favour, which pose a threat to press freedom. The organisation wrote to Press Council Chairman Ken McKinnon and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned both the 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 Vital’s favour, which pose a threat to press freedom.
The organisation wrote to Press Council Chairman Ken McKinnon and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, asking them to ensure that press freedom is guaranteed in coverage of Elan Vital’s activities.
In its most recent ruling, on 1 March 2004, the Supreme Court of the northeastern state of Queensland ordered a search of Macgregor’s personal computer. Macgregor stated 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 gag order issued by the court in October 2003, banning him from talking or writing about the court case.
The gag order was obtained on 23 October 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 Macgregor’s computer, in order to uncover his sources for 11 compromising documents he had received from the husband of a sect member. The ruling was obtained without Macgregor’s knowledge and he would have been in contempt of court if he had told anyone about it.
Following the ruling, the sect placed Macgregor under surveillance and threatened him. Two lawyers and a computer technician went to his home in the southwestern city of Perth on 24 October and told him private detectives had been watching him for several days. They threatened to have him arrested if he did not let them search his computer. Macgregor refused.
The journalist appealed against the ruling on 6 November, but it was upheld by the Supreme Court. As a result, the sect’s lawyers were able to make copies of files and personal e-mails on Macgregor’s laptop computer. On 21 November, the court fined Macgregor 2,000 Australian dollars (approx. US$1,500; 1,200 euros) and ordered him to pay the IRCC’s costs, which could amount to 58,000 Australian dollars (approx. US$43,000; 35,000 euros).
Macgregor told RSF that he is not being backed by any news organisation. His lawyer, Ian Cunliffe, will try to obtain a reduction in the amount sought from the journalist at the next hearing, scheduled for 15 April. However, the IRCC’s lawyers have undertaken to initiate another lawsuit against Macgregor.
In December, the sect’s lawyer wrote to Macgregor’s employers, accusing him of stealing documents with the aim of harming Maharaji, the sect’s leader. Macgregor was portrayed as the head of a conspiracy against Elan Vital.
Macgregor told RSF that the lawsuits and the other resources deployed by the sect are aimed at silencing him on the eve of Maharaji’s arrival in Australia in April. Macgregor was a member of the sect in the 1970s. He 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.
