| Mona Vasquez | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 France |
| Occupation | French author, cult expert |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | |
| Mona Vasquez homepage | |
Mona Vasquez (1960 — 2 September 2011) was a former Scientologist who was active in Scientology's headquarters in Europe, in Copenhagen, in the 1980s. She went on a hunger strike in August 1989 at Scientology's offices in Paris when she wanted to quit the program, in order to get her money back. She did receive almost €60,000 back from Scientology.
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Vasquez says she was initially introduced to Scientology by reading a friend's books.[1] There, she says, she become part of an organisation under "tight control... from the mother church".[2] She says she attempted to leave three times in this period, always coming back.[3] After being convicted of making illegal loans, which she argued had been encouraged by Scientology, she was set free from jail on the condition that she not attempt to contact members of the Scientology organisation.[4] She finally rejected Scientology. With money tight, she sought the return of money she had paid to Scientology for books and training courses. After a ten day hunger strike in Paris in August 1989 covered by Antenne 2, the Scientology organization returned around ₣100,000 of her money to her.[1]
Since then, she has testified before the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France,[2] and continued to paint and write.
She died on 2 September 2011.[5]