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CONTRIBUTOR: JEFF JACOBSEN

LOC. OF ORIG: SCOTTSDALE, AZ

NOTES: A TRANSLATION FROM FINNISH OF ARTICLES ON SCIENTOLOGY


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     Please note that this is an informal translation by a native
         Finn, recorded onto audio tape and transcribed by me.
                                   
                                   
                       Tuesday, January 9, 1990
                                   
                Iltalehti Newspaper, Helsinki, Finland
                                   
                    SCANDAL IN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
     Three of President Koivisto's bodyguards exposed as
     Scientologists.


        The Investigative Bureau found out in their investigations
     that three of President Koivisto's bodyguards turned out to
     be Scientologists, members of a strange American religious
     group.  The police discovered this in investigations of fi-
     nancial dealings of the church.  After this was exposed, the
     three had to leave their positions.  The police found out
     about the Scientologists in the Spring of 1989 when they were
     looking into Scientology dealings with the banks.  They found
     out that hundreds of Scientologists had gotten loans with
     co-signers who cross-signed for each other.  When the police
     were looking over these names they found a real surprise;
     there were three active church members who were President
     Koivisto's bodyguards.  The Investigative Bureau and the Se-
     curity chief interogated the three.
        Two of them had to leave the Palace in February, 1989, be-
     cause their membership in this ill-famed church was seen as a
     security risk.  The two were transferred to the Helsinki air-
     port.  A higher officer was fired around March of 1989, and
     there were investigations of his private life which showed he
     had spent 100,000 marks [$25,000 US] on church courses.  All
     three had traveled to the U.S. where Scientology is headquar-
     tered.  The higher officer is now working for a private busi-
     ness which bases its product on the church's teachings.  
        Did the president know about this?  The security chief,
     Markku Koivu, did not want to comment on any of this. 
     "Well... well, what can I say?  I know exactly who has been
     in our service, and I know what they have been doing, but we
     just don't talk about these things."
        Esa Tarvainen, Koivisto's military advisor, also refused
     to speak about this case.  "It is true that three men have
     been looking for another job, but that's all I want to say
     about it.  These are things we just don't want to speak about
     in public.  When it comes to the President's security, we
     don't talk about it publicly."  He was asked if the President
     knew about this situation, and replied "No comment."
        The investigative bureau and the criminal police had a
     private meeting with the banks last spring concerning
     Scientologists' financial difficulties.  The banks were con-
     cerned about these cross-signing loans that were used on
     self-development courses.
        The investigations into the Church of Scientology have
     been turned over to the criminal police.  They now have three
     large files on the church and have found hundreds of people
     victimized by the church.






     January 10, 1990

     Iltalehti Newspaper, Helsinki, Finland

        SCIENTOLOGY DROVE ARI TO SUICIDE

        The American-based Church of Scientology has caused a very
     difficult situation in 26-year old Ari Salosen's life.  All
     the people close to him have already been destroyed.  Ari,
     who has loans that reach 400,000 marks [$100,000 US] has con-
     sidered suicide.

     YOUNG ARI'S BITTER TALE: SCIENTOLOGY HAS DESTROYED MY LIFE

       Ari Salonen's painful experience began in Sweden in 1982. 
     "Scientologists destroyed my life totally.  My brother died
     of drugs.  My close friend committed suicide.  My little sis-
     ter is totally brainwashed, and my other sister's family has
     been broken from the church pressure.  I myself have been
     completely changed and I am all the time very close to sui-
     cide."
        When Ari finally got out of the church's grip, he had
     loans which came up to almost 500,000 marks.  And now Ari
     wants to tell his story.  He wants to talk himself out of
     Scientology and get their teachings out of himself.  He also
     wants to warn others.  He thinks no one should be exposed to
     this church to get hooked.
        When Ari was less than 20 he was fertile ground for the
     church's teachings.  His parents had been divorced and he was
     living in Stockholm, Sweden with his brother.  They were both
     looking for themselves and for meaning in their lives.  Ev-
     erything began with a free personality test.  "First we just
     took a few very inexpensive courses, but then they began to
     get more and more expensive and went up to 20-30,000 Swedish
     crowns [around $5000 US]."  Soon Ari realized that he was de-
     pendent on their auditing sessions.  One hour of this therapy
     cost about 1500 crowns [$300 US].  "Every time when I went to
     a session I had to use some vitamins, and every time they
     asked me specifically if I had been taking my pills.  I don't
     know what was in them, but I had the feeling I was one god. 
     But after the auditing the feeling left me and I felt like I
     was on drugs.  I had to get more and go back for more ses-
     sion."
        The church says they are striving for mental completeness,
     but this is not how Ari experienced it.  "In the end every-
     thing I did was wrong.  For them, only being there was the
     right thing to do."  The church is being accused of shameless
     greed for their courses.
        The church is organized for signing each other's loan pa-
     pers so they can pay for their courses.  "The church has a
     long list of banks where you can get loans without a
     co-signer.  They also teach you how to talk with a bank man-
     ager so you can get a loan.  When you go to the bank you have 
     a support person with you, who is there not just out of his
     own good will.  He gets 15% of the loan, so that's why they
     go.  One time I got a 100,000 crown loan, and right away I
     gave 15,000 to the support person who was there with me."
     This incredible greediness was explained by saying that you
     have to pay for everything.  "They say their help is so
     valueable that you must pay for it."
        Finally, Ari was in a situation where he had several
     loans, and loans to pay back those loans, totaling almost
     500,000 marks [$125,000 US].  The final result is not any
     clearing of the spirit.  "I have completely lost my will to
     live, and my life is just hell."  Without the help of his un-
     derstanding girlfriend, Ari couldn't have made it this far. 
     But his older brother didn't fare as well.  He was completely
     consumed by the church and couldn't get out.  He got involved
     in drugs also, and now Ari blames the church for his
     brother's suicide.
        "First you have to take loans for the auditing sessions,
     then finally you are so in debt you get mentally depressed." 
     The church is based on complete control.  At one point Ari
     was spending all the time every day at the church.  "And when
     my brother died, I just collapsed.  I went to the church and
     told them I don't want anything to do with them anymore.  But
     even after that the church didn't want to give up."  Only af-
     ter he returned to Finland was he able to get away from the
     church.  Now he gets strength from his fight against the
     church and now he wants to expose how they work.



     January 10, 1990

     Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, Helsinki Finland

     THREE PRESIDENTIAL GUARDS RESIGN BECAUSE OF SCIENTOLOGY

       Two of the president's bodyguards resigned in order to de-
     vote themselves to the American-based cult Scientology.  The
     third who was also involved in the church left his position,
     but seems to still be working for the police force.  One of
     them has started a consulting business based on Scientology's
     teachings which gives personality tests to potential employ-
     ees of companies that hire him.  In an interview with this
     man, he said he left his job willingly and with no misunder-
     standings.  Esa Tarvainen, a Presidential aide, refused to
     comment on the event.  As far as he is concerned, this is all
     in the past.  "I have worked for the President for five years
     and during this time no one has been fired but it is true
     that within the last two and a half years, three men have re-
     signed."  But he wouldn't say if the President's office ap-
     plied pressure on the men.  "This is a security matter, and
     we don't want any public discussion on it."  According to
     him, belonging to a religious group might be a security risk. 
     It depends on the organization and it's goals.
        [Here is a short reasonably accurate overview of
     Scientology teaching that I chose not to include]
        The Finnish Scientology association was founded almost six
     years ago, and works under the Swedish organization.  The
     worldwide organization is being led from the United States. 
     It has been critisized for brainwashing and greediness.  They
     begin with free personality testing which leads to very ex-
     pensive courses in the United States.
        According to Seppo Tiitisen, an Investigative Bureau
     chief, belonging to a religious organization is not enough
     grounds for firing a police officer.  But of course it's a
     different thing if this has other effects like taking too
     much of their time.  He refused to comment on this case, but
     did say the police were looking into Scientology. 
     "Scientology is a cult-based organization, and there have
     been many of those.  We looked into Scientology and have
     transferred investigations to the criminal police when we
     found out there was nothing unusually criminal about the or-
     ganization."  They looked into Scientology in 1989 in connec-
     tion with the banking procedures with co-signers, but did not
     find out enough to warrant continuing the investigation. 
     Lately there have not been any investigations into the orga-
     nization.