church, Criminal charge, Money laundering, television,
In March 2004, RNN7, a television channel in Rotterdam, Holland, sent a fax to the UCKG HelpCentre, claiming to possess information that would prove that the church is involved in criminal activities.
The accusations included that the church traffics in firearms and drugs. It also accused the church of money laundering and extortion. RNN7 notified the church office, saying that they would broadcast this information on television.
Apart from the accusations being blatant lies, if screened on television, RNN7′s accusations would reach thousands of people all across Rotterdam, who would then be discouraged, if not totally put off, from using the HelpCentre to find a solution to their problems.
When RNN7 was asked to produce sufficient evidence, all they were able to show were very old articles containing accusations that were proven untrue, and old e-mails containing questions but no facts about the UCKG. One of the documents clearly stated that the accusations had to be rectified, a detail that RNN7 chose to ignore. The judge even asked them if they had read the actual article!
The UCKG lawyer pointed out that in the 26 years that UCKG has existed, no such accusation has ever been proven. RNN7′s representative refused to comment.
Judge J. W. Heyman, and Mr Rijppeart, clerk of the court, found the UCKG not guilty of the accusations and said that RNN7 had overstepped the limit. They are now forbidden to speak against, or about, the UCKG and will be fined 250,000 euros if they do. RNN7 also had to pay 102,978 euros for all the court expenses.
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Released on Fri 28th May 2004
