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GERMAN SCIENTOLOGIST GRANTED ASYLUM
According to a November 8, 1997 report in the New York Times, an Immigration Court judge has overruled the INS and approved an asylum claim by a German Church of Scientology member. The applicant claimed she would face religious persecution in Germany if she were forced to return. The case is interesting because it is the first known case of a Scientologist succeeding in an asylum claim. Furthermore, it is very unusual for German nationals to make asylum claims, much less win them. 

The State Department has specifically criticized Germany's treatment of Scientologists, but whether the report justified a conclusion that a German Scientologist could have a credible fear of persecution was an open question prior to this case. 

The Church of Scientology has been waging a well-publicized fight against what it claims is discrimination by the German government. But the Church has denied that this case fits in to the Church's fight strategy.

The German government has labeled the Church of Scientology not an organized religion, but, rather, an organization devoted to immorally draining money from its members. However, documentation that the government bars Scientologists from joining political parties, spies on the Scientologist organization and bars members from holding certain public sector positions was enough to sway the judge. 
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