The Church of Scientology could be dissolved in France if it is convicted in a trial in a Paris court, where the group and seven of its French leaders stand charged of organised fraud and illegal pharmaceutical activity.
The group, considered a sect in France, has faced prosecution and difficulties in registering its activities in many countries.
The trial, opening Monday, pits its detractors against scientology devotees. It comes more than a decade after one of the three plaintiffs originally filed a complaint against the Church of Scientology. A young woman said she took out loans and spent the equivalent of €21,000 (US$29,421) on books, courses and "purification packages" after being recruited by the group in 1998. When she sought reimbursement and to leave the group, its leadership refused.
AP