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The book, Yoni Shakti,
I wrote between 2010 and 2012.
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And Yoni Shakti is a women's guide
to power and freedom,
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through yoga and tantra.
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It's about bringing people
back into a respectful reconnection
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with the rhythms of Earth
and the vitality of life.
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Om
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I was interested to see who else
is connecting to these practices.
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And that is how I found out
about the school in Denmark.
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And I was, like, "That is interesting."
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So I put a two-line reference,
almost like a footnote.
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And I didn't think anymore
about it until 2020,
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when I was contacted
by a reader and she expressed horror.
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Because she had been
studying at that school,
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and knew about the terrible things
that had happened.
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And then from that,
I connected with other people
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who'd had similar experiences.
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So they all were saying
the same kind of thing.
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So, I found their website
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and this little Danish yoga studio
was actually part of this
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Atman International Federation.
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There are members across the world.
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And when you look on each one,
each one has got a different name.
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In Romania, it's called MISA.
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In Sweden, it's also called Natha Yoga.
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So when you get to England… Tara.
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So you wouldn't know
that's anything to do with it.
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And at this point I was, like,
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"Oh… my… God.
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It's everywhere."
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It was my life.
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Okay, this is ten years ago for me,
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but there are still women
going through this now.
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They claimed that it was consensual,
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and framed me as a liar.
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Have you had sex
with any of the followers of MISA?
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I wanted to move,
to leave from this position I was,
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and he grabbed both my wrists
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and put them on the bed. Like, "Be quiet."
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Just felt like, "I gotta get outta here."
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I couldn't take any more at that point.
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He is…
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portrayed as sexually obsessed.
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This is what we see from the files.
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Paris. Romania. Guru. Cult.
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The testimony of Ashleigh.
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He's the missing piece that I needed.
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Just watch them squirm.
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It started and ended…
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with him.
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July 2019, when I left Paris…
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I guess I knew that there was
sexual abuse happening, but I didn't…
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at that point, piece together trafficking.
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But I was just on this, kind of,
constant reading rampage.
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Becoming really, kind of, obsessed
with understanding it more and more.
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The school was still operating,
everything was fine.
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And I just knew that every single day
more and more women
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were going through those same experiences
and being sent to Paris.
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So Ashleigh got in contact with me
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and basically revealed
why she had left the school.
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I was just, like, "The fuck is going on?"
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So I confronted
the main coordinators from Sweden,
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and they're just, like, "It's all lies."
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I think he, sort of, thought
he could make some change from within,
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and that perhaps people would understand
and they could break free from Bivolaru
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and continue all the good parts
of the school.
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And he wasn't able to recognize
that Bivolaru was the school.
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The response was,
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"Our belief is so strong
that we will do whatever it takes
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and we will support him no matter what."
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And in that moment
I just felt, like, this shudder,
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and this coldness come over me,
and just thinking, like,
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"That's the, sort of indoctrination
that leads people to drink Kool-Aid.
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That's their Jonestown,
sort of, ideology of…
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'You're so aligned with this individual
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that you will do whatever it takes
at whatever cost to protect him?'"
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And I just got so scared, I thought,
"Holy shit. These… They're gone."
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So, it was around May, 2020,
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that I first spoke out.
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Hi, everyone, I'm Ashleigh,
and I run the cult awareness page.
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This is the first story
I think that I'm…
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There was a lot of fear
of being judged or misunderstood.
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At the time there was so much fear in me
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and I was still trying
to understand what had happened
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and I still wasn't sure
where I sat and how I felt about it.
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And I was, kind of, oscillating between
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being really certain that something
was wrong, and that I'd left a cult.
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And then also at other times
wondering if I was wrong to leave,
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and that perhaps
I'd fallen off a spiritual path.
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But I just, kind of,
had this need that I needed…
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I just needed to say something.
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Ask the teachers. Actually ask them,
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"Are you sending women
to be initiated by the guru?
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Is that happening?"
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Just watch them squirm.
They'll either deny it…
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I thought that I would feel really silly
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if I just went to my local police station,
and said,
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"Hey, I had this experience
in France. Can you help me?"
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I just felt really silly.
I didn't know where to go.
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So when I first heard
about the experience of the people
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in the first school, in Scandinavia,
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they put me in touch
with Ashleigh, Ashleigh Freckleton.
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And what she sent me…
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I've never forgotten it.
I received it here.
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I remember it coming through on the email,
and it was her testimony.
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"The photo was taken the night before
I was trafficked to a foreign country
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for want of a better of a word, a cult."
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People don't show up at yoga classes,
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'cause, you know,
they wanna do bad in the world.
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They're, like,
looking for self-improvement.
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To be a better human, to…
That's why she's there.
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And there she is in the middle of London
looking like, really vibrant young woman,
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who's totally destroyed
by this experience.
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It's just wickedness to do that, isn't it?
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Uma wanted to publish
my testimony anonymously in the book.
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That was the first time
I felt like she gave a voice.
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Sort of, on a larger scale.
But then they came after her.
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In April of 2021,
I got a letter of claim, a legal letter.
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It basically says that all
the allegations that I've made are,
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"false, defamatory, severe."
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And it's going to cause their client,
"Loss of potential students.
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Serious financial losses."
Is their main concern.
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Initially, I think I felt disbelief,
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and then I was just terrified.
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They want me to tell them,
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"the identity and whereabouts
of all the parties who provided me
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with the information for you
to make the defamatory allegations."
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They wanna go after the survivors.
That's what this is about, isn't it?
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The whole process ended up
with me going to court three times,
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and it took about two years to complete.
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And in the end, the judge decided
that they had been out of time,
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and that there were
so many procedural errors
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that I won the court…
to get it thrown out of court,
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and it couldn't go any further.
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It was a disaster.
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Financially disastrous, yeah.
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But I kept thinking, you know?
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The stress I was under
was nothing compared to the deep suffering
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that those young women had gone through.
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What I felt was a kind of sickening sense
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that these really,
essentially good teachings
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had been twisted up to serve…
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the greed for power…
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of the person who was
in charge, who was teaching them.
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People didn't really speak
about him as a human being,
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more of a spiritual being.
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We were really encouraged to look at him
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as somebody who was
enlightened and elevated
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and whatever he taught was the truth.
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Almost as if he was Jesus.
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I knew that the school
had originated in Romania.
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And I was told,
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"Don't bother looking him up
because there's
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this long history with Romania
and religious persecution.
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And he started teaching yoga
when it was illegal.
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And he's been persecuted,
and demonized by the Romanian authorities.
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And that's all that you'll find.
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So, don't bother."
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This is a neighborhood
in the outskirts of Bucharest.
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It's called Ferentari.
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And this is known because the houses
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that are used as ashrams
by the group, MISA,
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most of them were around these streets.
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You can see there are
no windows or very small windows,
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very high fences.
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Many of them
have very large satellite antennas.
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And in 2004,
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police got information
that there was much more going on
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inside these houses
than some normal yoga classes.
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Back then, I was the case
prosecutor assigned to handle
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the investigation into Bivolaru.
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The police had received
a lot of complaints coming from parents,
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who told the authorities
that their children were missing
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because they had joined
this movement, MISA.
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They were concerned
that their children
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all of a sudden
were part of a movement, part of a cult
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and ended up breaking away from the family
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without a very clear explanation.
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Besides the fact that a lot of minors
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were believed to live in those ashrams,
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the police told the media
that they had information
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that there might be
human trafficking going on.
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That there might be
organized crime activities.
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There were some surprises
once we got inside.
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I was expecting to encounter people
from the criminal underworld.
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Some big muscular guys.
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But no.
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The women responded with silence
to every question.
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I didn't feel that they were free.
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I can honestly say I was shocked.
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There were about 20 beds.
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Fifteen of them, if not more,
had, at the end of each bed,
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a picture of Bivolaru.
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I was born in Transylvania,
a magical place.
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I got into yoga
through people my mother knew,
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who were seeking spirituality.
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It was a more alluring world
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that Romanians
didn't have access to before,
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because under Communism
there was a more closed mentality,
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and we didn't have access
to such information.
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After Communism,
people needed something to cling onto,
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something to believe in.
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To put their hopes,
their illusions in someone else.
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I was about 11 or 12
when my mum started attending classes.
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I wanted to attend, I was curious.
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It was so captivating to discover
that there was this spiritual guru,
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who had created this school of yoga.
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Someone with the answers
to all of our questions.
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Simply finding myself there,
close to the great master,
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it felt sacred
to experience something so intimate.
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The girls saw Grieg
as the supreme being Shiva,
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the symbol of masculinity and male energy.
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As a 15-year old girl,
I also began to see him as a god.
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Even later,
when the investigation started,
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we were still indoctrinated with this idea
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that those on the outside
wanted to harm us.
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That there was a conspiracy against us
because we were too spiritual.
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Right after the raids
that were taking place,
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MISA started building up a defense
and organizing protests.
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And then, exactly when all the heat
was going on and all eyes were on MISA…
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Gregorian Bivolaru decided to appear
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on this very popular
TV show, Marius Tucă…
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just a few days
after the raids had happened.
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Good evening.
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I would like to say
from the very beginning
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that I am not the leader of MISA,
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but merely the mentor of this movement.
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Why are you called Guru?
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I am only called a guru by the press
and those who seek to discredit me.
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I have always considered myself
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to be the yoga teacher,
Gregorian Bivolaru.
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Have you had sex
with any of the followers of MISA?
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I never have sex with anyone,
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because having sex is something degrading.
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Have you made love
to any of the followers of MISA?
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Did I make love? Yes, I did make love.
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Not sexually degrading,
but natural loving relationships,
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as we all know them,
based on love and mutual respect.
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I was initiated at the beginning of 2000.
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I was a virgin.
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I won't go into too much detail
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but it wasn't very special.
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I didn't feel any pleasure,
quite the contrary.
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I remember that the bed
was full of blood, but he wasn't upset.
244
00:17:20,165 --> 00:17:24,377
I remember that tears
were running down my face.
245
00:17:29,341 --> 00:17:32,553
I was 15 years and 6 months old.
246
00:17:37,766 --> 00:17:41,812
Everything is manifested,
everything is harmony.
247
00:17:41,895 --> 00:17:47,693
God is the supreme creator
of all that exists.
248
00:17:47,776 --> 00:17:51,488
We must come to know Him
as deeply as possible
249
00:17:51,572 --> 00:17:55,325
through the practice of yoga,
in order to reach the divine state.
250
00:17:56,368 --> 00:17:59,830
He had a certain charisma.
251
00:17:59,913 --> 00:18:06,420
But it was not a physical charisma.
He was never an attractive man.
252
00:18:07,629 --> 00:18:13,302
We constantly transfigured him
and put him on a pedestal.
253
00:18:15,262 --> 00:18:21,852
Okay, I'm going to do this for everyone
who follows me, for one minute.
254
00:18:21,935 --> 00:18:24,605
I will create a state of happiness
255
00:18:24,688 --> 00:18:29,818
for those who are open to receiving it.
256
00:18:29,902 --> 00:18:34,573
Through my connection
to infinite spheres of beneficial force
257
00:18:34,656 --> 00:18:35,991
that exist in the macrocosm.
258
00:18:36,575 --> 00:18:38,827
So, I will begin now.
259
00:18:38,911 --> 00:18:43,874
He said that he's going to, kind of,
transmit a state of absolute happiness,
260
00:18:43,957 --> 00:18:49,004
to the viewers who are open
to believing in his philosophy.
261
00:19:00,641 --> 00:19:03,227
We burst out laughing when we saw this.
262
00:19:07,523 --> 00:19:12,861
You would start to wonder if that man
is okay from a mental point of view.
263
00:19:20,744 --> 00:19:22,746
I've been involved in fighting
264
00:19:22,829 --> 00:19:26,625
against types of movements
and cults for many years.
265
00:19:29,044 --> 00:19:32,756
So that's how I became
to be interested in MISA.
266
00:19:36,510 --> 00:19:38,887
I wanted to understand the modus operandi.
267
00:19:38,971 --> 00:19:42,015
What was going on with MISA in France.
268
00:19:42,391 --> 00:19:46,186
And I started to read
and to slowly investigate.
269
00:19:47,020 --> 00:19:50,274
It was something
very well organized and always the same.
270
00:19:52,776 --> 00:19:56,905
So they organized a, kind of, strategy
271
00:19:56,989 --> 00:20:01,535
where they ask women
from everywhere around the world,
272
00:20:01,618 --> 00:20:02,995
except from France,
273
00:20:03,078 --> 00:20:05,122
to come to France for initiation
274
00:20:05,205 --> 00:20:08,417
to improve
their personal development and so on.
275
00:20:11,170 --> 00:20:13,922
After that they go back
to their original country.
276
00:20:14,715 --> 00:20:18,927
And when you are 1,000 km away,
what can you do? Just nothing.
277
00:20:22,347 --> 00:20:23,807
It's difficult to accept
278
00:20:23,891 --> 00:20:28,270
that somebody is completely
under the control of someone else.
279
00:20:29,188 --> 00:20:33,734
First of all, you absolutely need to have
testimonies from the victims.
280
00:20:34,484 --> 00:20:37,070
And it was a, kind of,
protection for Bivolaru
281
00:20:37,154 --> 00:20:40,282
to not have complaints
in France from French victims.
282
00:20:41,491 --> 00:20:44,995
I had reported
to the Royal Charity Commission in the UK.
283
00:20:45,537 --> 00:20:47,122
Nothing had come of that.
284
00:20:47,748 --> 00:20:51,001
Like, I put something on
Crime Stoppers International.
285
00:20:51,084 --> 00:20:53,086
And I followed that up,
maybe once or twice,
286
00:20:53,170 --> 00:20:56,882
and it never came to fruition.
No one ever got back to me,
287
00:20:56,965 --> 00:20:59,885
no one ever seemed
to want to take my testimony.
288
00:21:03,430 --> 00:21:05,807
I put some alerts on my computer.
289
00:21:06,767 --> 00:21:09,937
Paris. Romania. Guru. Cult.
290
00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,774
And I quickly found
291
00:21:13,857 --> 00:21:16,610
this article in an Australian newspaper.
292
00:21:17,110 --> 00:21:20,155
Paris. Romania. Guru. Cult.
293
00:21:20,239 --> 00:21:22,032
The testimony of Ashleigh.
294
00:21:24,826 --> 00:21:25,827
"Hello, Ashleigh,
295
00:21:26,954 --> 00:21:29,414
allow me to introduce myself…"
296
00:21:30,374 --> 00:21:33,627
It actually is… Yeah, it's pretty
wild, because from where I was sitting
297
00:21:33,710 --> 00:21:36,255
at that point he was just
some random guy in France.
298
00:21:37,673 --> 00:21:38,799
And yet,
299
00:21:38,882 --> 00:21:42,344
he's the missing piece that I needed
to connect in with the foreign police.
300
00:21:44,096 --> 00:21:48,267
So I was in touch with Ashleigh,
and transmitted this testimony
301
00:21:48,350 --> 00:21:50,769
to the department of police
302
00:21:50,853 --> 00:21:55,357
in charge of what is going on
in terms of cults in France.
303
00:22:05,617 --> 00:22:09,454
We knew there were some problems
304
00:22:09,538 --> 00:22:13,375
with this movement, but before 2021
305
00:22:13,458 --> 00:22:16,587
we hadn't really started investigating.
306
00:22:21,091 --> 00:22:23,677
The crucial first step,
is to hear from the victims.
307
00:22:24,511 --> 00:22:29,433
Caimades, which is a very
specialized anti-cult unit,
308
00:22:29,975 --> 00:22:34,021
did reach out and said that they wanted
to receive my testimony verbally.
309
00:22:35,063 --> 00:22:38,400
Then they asked me
if I wanted to make a formal complaint.
310
00:22:38,483 --> 00:22:39,484
And I said yes.
311
00:22:41,361 --> 00:22:44,865
We realized there was a clear possibility
312
00:22:44,948 --> 00:22:48,243
that Gregorian Bivolaru
was on French soil.
313
00:22:49,453 --> 00:22:51,955
But it was very delicate,
because there was a risk
314
00:22:52,039 --> 00:22:53,957
that Gregorian Bivolaru would escape.
315
00:22:54,041 --> 00:22:59,171
And with the network he had in place,
he would have vanished.
316
00:23:06,470 --> 00:23:10,349
Gregorian Bivolaru
is on trial for five counts.
317
00:23:10,432 --> 00:23:13,560
These include multiple sexual offenses
318
00:23:13,644 --> 00:23:15,771
sexual corruption, trafficking of minors,
319
00:23:15,854 --> 00:23:21,693
engaging in sexual relations with minors,
and attempted illegal border crossings.
320
00:23:21,777 --> 00:23:25,906
After the raids, Gregorian Bivolaru
denied all of the charges.
321
00:23:26,490 --> 00:23:29,910
What do you plan to do now?
Will you try to hide?
322
00:23:29,993 --> 00:23:33,413
No, I will not try to hide,
I have no reason to hide.
323
00:23:33,497 --> 00:23:37,793
But then a trial had begun,
and he was nowhere to be found.
324
00:23:37,876 --> 00:23:39,795
He didn't show up in court.
325
00:23:40,921 --> 00:23:42,798
And the next thing we found out
326
00:23:42,881 --> 00:23:46,343
was that Gregorian Bivolaru
appears somewhere in Sweden.
327
00:23:47,302 --> 00:23:48,804
Captured! Gregorian Bivolaru,
328
00:23:48,887 --> 00:23:52,057
the most wanted Romanian in recent times,
has been caught and detained in Sweden.
329
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:56,728
There had only been, like, 15 years
330
00:23:56,812 --> 00:24:00,190
since the fall of the communist regime.
331
00:24:01,942 --> 00:24:07,364
So MISA was using this argument
that was still sensitive in Romania.
332
00:24:07,447 --> 00:24:11,702
Saying that Romania
is still a corrupt country,
333
00:24:11,785 --> 00:24:15,080
is still a country where police use force.
334
00:24:15,163 --> 00:24:17,958
Everything in order to convince
335
00:24:18,041 --> 00:24:21,461
the Swedish authorities
to refuse extradition request.
336
00:24:21,545 --> 00:24:23,755
A body blow
for the Romanian justice system.
337
00:24:23,839 --> 00:24:26,133
Gregorian Bivolaru cannot be extradited.
338
00:24:26,216 --> 00:24:28,969
That's what the Supreme Court
of Justice in Stockholm ruled today.
339
00:24:29,887 --> 00:24:32,431
Swedish judges feared
that the spiritual leader of MISA
340
00:24:32,514 --> 00:24:34,349
would be persecuted in Romania.
341
00:24:34,933 --> 00:24:39,479
In 2004 he escaped Romania
to go to Sweden.
342
00:24:40,314 --> 00:24:42,566
So officially he was living in Sweden.
343
00:24:42,649 --> 00:24:46,820
But there is evidence
that since at least 2007,
344
00:24:46,904 --> 00:24:49,448
he went to France and stayed in France.
345
00:24:59,249 --> 00:25:02,836
Everything I did
was very much connected with the school.
346
00:25:03,629 --> 00:25:06,173
It was my life for quite a few years.
347
00:25:08,717 --> 00:25:12,721
And then I started to date
people outside of the school,
348
00:25:12,804 --> 00:25:17,392
and met somebody
and had a child, so my focus shifted.
349
00:25:19,686 --> 00:25:23,106
I was quite disappointed, because
there wasn't so much understanding,
350
00:25:23,190 --> 00:25:29,488
that life with a small child requires
huge amounts of dedication and energy.
351
00:25:29,571 --> 00:25:31,907
And I felt very much left behind.
352
00:25:35,118 --> 00:25:38,455
I was dedicating myself
wholeheartedly to motherhood.
353
00:25:38,539 --> 00:25:40,958
And a friend of mine called me and said,
354
00:25:41,041 --> 00:25:45,045
"Look, you know, there are some things
that I would like to share with you."
355
00:25:47,297 --> 00:25:51,301
So my friend came one evening
and sat on the sofa,
356
00:25:51,385 --> 00:25:57,349
and began to give me accounts
of women having really awful experiences.
357
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,479
For me, I went in because I wanted to.
358
00:26:02,563 --> 00:26:04,565
Like, I really, really wanted it.
359
00:26:04,648 --> 00:26:08,735
So I never felt that I had
to do anything against my own will.
360
00:26:08,819 --> 00:26:11,613
It was 100% my choice.
361
00:26:15,242 --> 00:26:17,202
But at the same time,
362
00:26:17,286 --> 00:26:22,958
there was a huge underlying pressure
for a lot of people to do things
363
00:26:23,041 --> 00:26:27,379
against themselves, and against their will
and against their boundaries.
364
00:26:27,462 --> 00:26:30,090
Because there wasn't really that safety
365
00:26:30,174 --> 00:26:33,719
to say,
"Actually I don't want to do this."
366
00:26:40,309 --> 00:26:44,605
Webcams were quite a recent business
367
00:26:44,688 --> 00:26:48,317
when I got to the core of MISA.
368
00:26:50,444 --> 00:26:55,991
Officially, I wasn't allowed
to do webcam work because I was underage.
369
00:26:56,074 --> 00:26:59,703
But it was considered completely normal
to make a few appearances
370
00:26:59,786 --> 00:27:02,080
using other girls' passports.
371
00:27:02,164 --> 00:27:06,084
As long as you looked similar
you could do whatever.
372
00:27:06,710 --> 00:27:11,173
That was when I understood the scale.
373
00:27:11,256 --> 00:27:15,093
You saw that they had 40 ashrams.
374
00:27:15,177 --> 00:27:20,432
Entire buildings were purchased,
their HQ and hotels in Costinești.
375
00:27:20,516 --> 00:27:25,229
I understood that all the prosperity
of this "not for profit" organization
376
00:27:25,312 --> 00:27:28,941
came from the websites and the webcams.
377
00:27:36,740 --> 00:27:39,493
I signed a contract, they took a photo.
378
00:27:40,244 --> 00:27:43,497
And they said one of the reasons why
379
00:27:43,956 --> 00:27:46,959
this place is so special
380
00:27:47,042 --> 00:27:53,006
is because the profit
from the site goes to him.
381
00:27:53,590 --> 00:27:54,758
Goes to Grieg.
382
00:28:00,097 --> 00:28:04,351
In terms of our growth
and our development in the school,
383
00:28:05,519 --> 00:28:07,479
it started and ended with Grieg.
384
00:28:10,399 --> 00:28:13,777
There were very many teachers
in the school
385
00:28:13,861 --> 00:28:18,991
who were
incredibly intelligent and charismatic.
386
00:28:19,074 --> 00:28:23,245
And all of them were just so devoted
to this human being.
387
00:28:25,581 --> 00:28:29,459
But anybody familiar
with the yin and yang symbol,
388
00:28:29,543 --> 00:28:33,922
we know that in each light
there's always a speck of darkness.
389
00:28:35,924 --> 00:28:39,678
Just like in each darkness
there's always a speck of light.
390
00:28:41,555 --> 00:28:43,182
I guess I made an assumption
391
00:28:43,265 --> 00:28:46,518
that the speck of darkness
in him was really small.
392
00:28:48,228 --> 00:28:50,898
But from everything that's been uncovered,
393
00:28:50,981 --> 00:28:54,776
maybe the speck of darkness
is much bigger than what we assumed.
394
00:28:59,364 --> 00:29:01,700
MISA and Gregorian Bivolaru
395
00:29:01,783 --> 00:29:08,290
have always presented Bivolaru
as both a victim and a hero.
396
00:29:10,501 --> 00:29:14,838
That he has always been
oppressed, attacked, harassed,
397
00:29:14,922 --> 00:29:17,257
jailed, tortured, beaten…
398
00:29:19,259 --> 00:29:23,722
by the hands
of the former secret police of Romania.
399
00:29:23,805 --> 00:29:25,516
It's called the Securitate.
400
00:29:32,105 --> 00:29:35,526
During the communist regime
we indeed lived
401
00:29:35,609 --> 00:29:39,279
in a closed and totalitarian society.
That is true.
402
00:29:41,156 --> 00:29:47,788
But now, years after,
we can actually look up in these files
403
00:29:47,871 --> 00:29:50,207
and see what really happened.
404
00:30:04,137 --> 00:30:05,931
The first mention…
405
00:30:07,391 --> 00:30:11,812
of the Securitate
surveilling Gregorian Bivolaru
406
00:30:13,063 --> 00:30:17,609
dates back from 1971.
407
00:30:18,402 --> 00:30:23,240
Back then
Gregorian Bivolaru was 19 years old,
408
00:30:23,323 --> 00:30:26,994
and he was in his last high school year.
409
00:30:28,203 --> 00:30:34,168
They discover that he was in contact
with foreign citizens
410
00:30:34,251 --> 00:30:39,173
whom he was asking
for pornographic materials,
411
00:30:39,256 --> 00:30:42,301
such as, like, photos, magazines.
412
00:30:42,843 --> 00:30:45,137
So we have one of those letters.
413
00:30:45,220 --> 00:30:47,931
I think it was '72.
414
00:30:50,058 --> 00:30:51,685
"I know a lot of things
415
00:30:51,768 --> 00:30:56,899
about your sexual freedom in Sweden,
and I want to obtain pictures."
416
00:30:56,982 --> 00:31:02,696
"Do you want to send me sexy photos
and sexy slides from Sweden?"
417
00:31:02,779 --> 00:31:03,780
Another letter,
418
00:31:03,864 --> 00:31:06,950
"I have a great sympathy
for the German people,
419
00:31:07,034 --> 00:31:08,285
and in your sexy photos
420
00:31:08,368 --> 00:31:13,457
I can see the emancipated comprehension
of the sexuality in Germany."
421
00:31:14,875 --> 00:31:18,462
Later on, he was actually
convicted to prison
422
00:31:18,545 --> 00:31:23,592
because he owned
and distributed pornographic materials.
423
00:31:23,675 --> 00:31:26,345
He was not jailed
because he was a yoga practitioner.
424
00:31:26,428 --> 00:31:28,138
This is what we see from the files.
425
00:31:29,473 --> 00:31:31,642
In the summer of 1989,
426
00:31:31,725 --> 00:31:36,480
raids were organized by Securitate
in several cities in Romania
427
00:31:36,563 --> 00:31:40,025
to dismantle groups
that were practicing yoga.
428
00:31:43,612 --> 00:31:47,115
Yoga had been forbidden since 1982.
429
00:31:47,199 --> 00:31:51,328
Bivolaru was leading such a group,
so he was, again, detained.
430
00:31:51,411 --> 00:31:56,708
But this time the Securitate decided
that his place was not in a prison,
431
00:31:56,792 --> 00:32:00,045
but in a psychiatric medical unit.
432
00:32:03,423 --> 00:32:07,678
He is basically portrayed as…
433
00:32:07,761 --> 00:32:09,012
sexually obsessed.
434
00:32:11,223 --> 00:32:15,102
So in his own words, back from 1989,
435
00:32:15,185 --> 00:32:17,062
he tells the Securitate agents
436
00:32:17,145 --> 00:32:22,442
that, "One day somewhere in 1986 or 1987,
437
00:32:22,526 --> 00:32:28,782
I met near my house
a young 12-year-old brunette girl,
438
00:32:28,866 --> 00:32:30,117
I think she was a gypsy.
439
00:32:32,661 --> 00:32:35,706
And I asked this close friend of mine
440
00:32:35,789 --> 00:32:39,918
to have intimate relations with the girl.
441
00:32:40,002 --> 00:32:43,922
And afterwards to present her to me
442
00:32:44,006 --> 00:32:48,051
in order for me
to initiate her in sexual tantras."
443
00:32:48,468 --> 00:32:50,846
This shows a potential interest
444
00:32:50,929 --> 00:32:55,767
in very young women
since so many, many years ago.
445
00:32:57,019 --> 00:33:01,273
And also it goes on saying
that Bivolaru, over the years,
446
00:33:01,356 --> 00:33:06,153
has asked his women friends
to recruit other women for him.
447
00:33:09,072 --> 00:33:12,451
He was subject to psychiatric exam,
448
00:33:13,744 --> 00:33:18,415
which says that he lacks
the mental capacity
449
00:33:18,498 --> 00:33:21,168
to assess his own actions, his own needs.
450
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,046
And then just a few months later…
451
00:33:25,255 --> 00:33:27,925
the communist regime in Romania fell.
452
00:33:29,384 --> 00:33:33,388
And soon after, special commission
of this psychiatric unit
453
00:33:33,472 --> 00:33:36,099
decided to release Gregorian Bivolaru.
454
00:33:36,934 --> 00:33:40,938
And soon after that, in 1990
455
00:33:41,021 --> 00:33:44,066
the group called MISA took birth.
456
00:33:50,239 --> 00:33:54,618
So after Prague,
I travelled back to the UK,
457
00:33:55,327 --> 00:33:57,579
and I started to realize
458
00:33:57,663 --> 00:34:01,166
how extremist the teachings
and practices of the school were.
459
00:34:03,418 --> 00:34:07,881
And there was this website
that was made by people
460
00:34:07,965 --> 00:34:09,716
who were enemies of the school.
461
00:34:11,260 --> 00:34:14,804
We were told that it was demonic
and it was better not to look at it.
462
00:34:16,056 --> 00:34:21,603
So New Year's Eve, '21-'22,
at home on my own, I did look at it…
463
00:34:22,938 --> 00:34:24,648
and it was like a mirror.
464
00:34:27,234 --> 00:34:29,695
It just confirmed
what I was already feeling.
465
00:34:31,612 --> 00:34:33,532
All of those moments of doubt
466
00:34:33,614 --> 00:34:36,534
or incongruence, now made sense.
467
00:34:37,286 --> 00:34:39,746
And this word "cult", that before
468
00:34:39,830 --> 00:34:42,916
I hadn't been willing to accept.
469
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,253
I thought that it was a term
that was used to denigrate
470
00:34:46,335 --> 00:34:49,255
religion and spirituality
and keep people away from it.
471
00:34:51,216 --> 00:34:53,302
At that point, on that New Year's Eve,
472
00:34:53,385 --> 00:34:55,929
I realized for the first time
that I had to leave.
473
00:34:56,013 --> 00:34:57,514
And I had to leave completely.
474
00:34:57,598 --> 00:35:00,684
And I had to do something about it
and I had to speak out.
475
00:35:01,768 --> 00:35:05,647
And then it became really clear,
476
00:35:05,731 --> 00:35:09,735
their true colors
and what they were actually capable of.
477
00:35:12,237 --> 00:35:18,243
So, they claimed that everything
was consensual and framed me as a liar.
478
00:35:18,327 --> 00:35:21,788
And people who I thought
were my friends were
479
00:35:21,872 --> 00:35:25,459
lying about me and saying, you know,
how I'd fallen from the path.
480
00:35:26,376 --> 00:35:31,548
It made me feel sad that
that whole foundation of community,
481
00:35:31,632 --> 00:35:36,386
which had been such an important part
of me remaining in there for those years,
482
00:35:36,762 --> 00:35:39,056
was completely inauthentic.
483
00:35:39,139 --> 00:35:41,850
Wasn't a real community,
those weren't real friendships.
484
00:35:41,934 --> 00:35:46,855
And there was no opportunity
for you to truly be yourself.
485
00:35:53,278 --> 00:35:57,741
I got a phone call from
my first relationship at the time, Paula.
486
00:35:59,034 --> 00:36:01,954
Initially, she wasn't prepared
to discuss any of it,
487
00:36:02,037 --> 00:36:05,457
but she revealed everything
and it was just…
488
00:36:05,541 --> 00:36:09,753
the final confirmation that I realized,
like, this was the last straw.
489
00:36:17,302 --> 00:36:20,973
The fourth and last visit
was in October of 2019.
490
00:36:28,105 --> 00:36:31,275
I wanted to move, to kind of,
leave from this position I was,
491
00:36:31,358 --> 00:36:35,821
and he grabbed both my wrists
and put them on the bed.
492
00:36:35,904 --> 00:36:40,826
Like, "Be quiet." And then, eventually,
a little bit more after that,
493
00:36:40,909 --> 00:36:44,246
he didn't keep them, but he put them,
you know, and then took his hands off.
494
00:36:44,329 --> 00:36:46,540
And then a few minutes afterwards
495
00:36:46,623 --> 00:36:49,501
I started crying
so that he will just get off me.
496
00:36:52,004 --> 00:36:54,840
And then he was screaming
at me for, like, three hours.
497
00:36:55,340 --> 00:36:57,885
Saying that I was never
gonna be invited there again.
498
00:36:58,510 --> 00:37:00,888
'Cause I didn't deserve it,
'cause I didn't love him.
499
00:37:02,014 --> 00:37:05,392
Then after I left his room
and I went to a room with the girls,
500
00:37:05,475 --> 00:37:09,271
he came into the room and he continued
saying horrible things to me.
501
00:37:09,354 --> 00:37:12,274
Like, he just repeated everything
he said in his room to me alone,
502
00:37:12,357 --> 00:37:13,650
in front of the girls.
503
00:37:15,485 --> 00:37:17,779
At that point I said,
"I'm never again coming here."
504
00:37:17,863 --> 00:37:20,324
I had a really clear,
like, "This is just…
505
00:37:20,407 --> 00:37:24,286
This is the opposite
of what I ever thought it would be."
506
00:37:24,369 --> 00:37:25,454
You know?
507
00:37:26,121 --> 00:37:29,625
Like, this is super traumatic,
like, it's not enjoyable at all.
508
00:37:29,917 --> 00:37:34,796
Like, I'm being forced to pretend
that I wanna do something I don't want to.
509
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:39,259
And I'm being humiliated
because I don't want to. You know?
510
00:37:43,013 --> 00:37:44,973
That was the straw
that broke the camel's back.
511
00:37:45,057 --> 00:37:47,518
I just…
I couldn't take any more at that point.
512
00:37:47,601 --> 00:37:51,396
Just felt like, "I gotta get outta here.
I can't do this anymore."
513
00:37:53,732 --> 00:37:56,777
This investigator
from France contacted me.
514
00:37:56,860 --> 00:37:58,904
So I did agree to give my testimony.
515
00:38:01,698 --> 00:38:05,369
It's not easy
for victims of cult crimes to testify.
516
00:38:06,453 --> 00:38:09,748
These victims
are under someone else's control.
517
00:38:09,831 --> 00:38:13,794
This psychological control prevents them
from considering themselves as victims.
518
00:38:16,171 --> 00:38:20,968
They have to trust the investigators
to tell us what happened.
519
00:38:21,051 --> 00:38:24,930
They have to feel
that we listen and understand.
520
00:38:27,516 --> 00:38:31,228
I was contacted by this special unit.
521
00:38:31,645 --> 00:38:33,689
And through the questioning techniques,
522
00:38:33,772 --> 00:38:36,441
and the use of language
of this French unit,
523
00:38:36,525 --> 00:38:38,277
I could tell that they understood.
524
00:38:39,069 --> 00:38:41,905
I gave them my testimony.
525
00:38:41,989 --> 00:38:46,910
I just knew that that's what I had to do.
There was no other choice for me.
526
00:38:49,162 --> 00:38:50,581
By the time they spoke to me,
527
00:38:50,664 --> 00:38:53,250
they'd already taken statements
from a few others.
528
00:38:53,333 --> 00:38:58,046
And I really felt that,
"Okay, this is ten years ago for me,
529
00:38:58,130 --> 00:39:00,424
but there are still women
going through this now."
530
00:39:02,092 --> 00:39:04,595
I mean, I knew that I was a victim
of sex trafficking and rape,
531
00:39:04,678 --> 00:39:07,639
and that was clear from, like,
even the therapy that I'd done,
532
00:39:07,723 --> 00:39:09,975
and some of the things
that I had read until that point.
533
00:39:10,058 --> 00:39:13,312
But it was something about having
the police actually say it back to me,
534
00:39:13,395 --> 00:39:17,316
after hearing all of my
very personal details from multiple days,
535
00:39:17,399 --> 00:39:19,776
having them say,
"Yes, this is what happened.
536
00:39:19,860 --> 00:39:22,279
And it's a very serious crime
under French law,
537
00:39:23,572 --> 00:39:27,034
and we will be absolutely
pursuing this as far as we can."
538
00:39:30,078 --> 00:39:33,165
At the right moment,
with the magistrate's permission,
539
00:39:33,248 --> 00:39:35,042
we launched a large scale operation.
540
00:39:36,210 --> 00:39:39,421
We had almost 170 officers on the ground.
541
00:39:40,589 --> 00:39:43,800
Right before the operation,
we still had some doubts.
542
00:39:45,010 --> 00:39:48,180
What were we going to find
behind those doors,
543
00:39:50,390 --> 00:39:53,519
behind which no one had ever
managed to catch a glimpse?
544
00:39:55,979 --> 00:39:59,983
175 police officers mobilized.
40 simultaneous arrests.
545
00:40:00,067 --> 00:40:02,277
All linked to a sectarian yoga cult.
546
00:40:02,361 --> 00:40:03,987
"Tantric yoga guru arrested
547
00:40:04,071 --> 00:40:06,698
over accusations of sexual abuse
and exploitation in France."
548
00:40:07,157 --> 00:40:09,868
He is suspected
of abusing dozens of women.
549
00:40:09,952 --> 00:40:12,412
Just elated. I don't know.
It's just… I don't…
550
00:40:12,496 --> 00:40:15,332
Like, I honestly when Ziggy called me,
I didn't really have…
551
00:40:15,415 --> 00:40:17,251
I don't… I can't really find the words.
552
00:40:17,334 --> 00:40:20,879
The guru lived
in this small apartment near Paris
553
00:40:20,963 --> 00:40:22,631
where he was arrested yesterday.
554
00:40:22,714 --> 00:40:25,759
It just feels like
the start of the reckoning
555
00:40:25,843 --> 00:40:28,428
that we all wanted to see happen.
556
00:40:28,804 --> 00:40:31,723
He would choose a certain number of women
557
00:40:31,807 --> 00:40:35,978
from all over the world to be initiated.
558
00:40:36,061 --> 00:40:39,356
Sexual initiation
under the pretext of personal development.
559
00:40:40,065 --> 00:40:42,276
At first I wasn't sure if it was real.
560
00:40:42,359 --> 00:40:46,989
It was, like, just a lot of
shock and awe, and gratitude, and relief.
561
00:40:48,365 --> 00:40:49,616
Come in.
562
00:40:50,409 --> 00:40:53,453
Suspected of being the head of a cult.
563
00:40:53,537 --> 00:40:58,292
Accused of rape,
human trafficking and organized crime.
564
00:40:58,375 --> 00:41:01,128
We're not there yet.
This is just the first step
565
00:41:01,211 --> 00:41:03,589
in what will be a pretty lengthy process.
566
00:41:03,672 --> 00:41:07,676
But at least we know
he can't be doing this any longer.
567
00:41:15,100 --> 00:41:16,894
At the time of the operation,
568
00:41:16,977 --> 00:41:19,146
the charges against the movement
were as follows:
569
00:41:20,898 --> 00:41:23,817
Abuse of weakness
using psychological control.
570
00:41:24,526 --> 00:41:27,779
Human trafficking and rape.
571
00:41:32,659 --> 00:41:35,871
Do you think he's a criminal
guilty of those crimes?
572
00:41:41,001 --> 00:41:43,504
Once I took my experiences
573
00:41:43,587 --> 00:41:47,341
and the events that had happened to me
out of the context of their dogma,
574
00:41:48,050 --> 00:41:53,180
and applied it to the context
of other normal people's reactions,
575
00:41:53,263 --> 00:41:58,393
my own feelings and experiences,
legal definitions,
576
00:41:58,477 --> 00:42:03,440
then I understood that what had happened
was trafficking and rape.
577
00:42:06,568 --> 00:42:10,489
This a… Yes, in my system.
578
00:42:11,198 --> 00:42:15,619
And also the story's complicated.
579
00:42:20,707 --> 00:42:23,710
But ultimately the responsibility lies…
580
00:42:24,461 --> 00:42:25,712
with him.
581
00:42:29,591 --> 00:42:32,719
To me it was just like
a bad experience until then.
582
00:42:32,803 --> 00:42:34,721
And then talking to my therapist,
she was like,
583
00:42:34,805 --> 00:42:38,517
"You know, let's just put the name
for the things that happened."
584
00:42:40,519 --> 00:42:41,937
"When you were kidnapped…"
585
00:42:42,020 --> 00:42:45,858
She started to use all of these words
in therapy. It was really conflicting.
586
00:42:45,941 --> 00:42:47,901
It was like,
"I don't wanna hear that."
587
00:42:47,985 --> 00:42:49,444
"That's not what happened."
588
00:42:49,528 --> 00:42:51,321
And she was like…
She really helped me
589
00:42:51,405 --> 00:42:54,366
to start putting names
on the things that really, like…
590
00:42:54,449 --> 00:42:57,077
To really name properly
the things that happened.
591
00:42:58,328 --> 00:43:01,790
And then when I saw the charges
that we were accusing him of,
592
00:43:01,874 --> 00:43:04,126
and then it said "rape".
593
00:43:04,209 --> 00:43:08,130
And then it was an explanation
of what rape means for the French law.
594
00:43:10,174 --> 00:43:13,969
Any type of sexual interaction
that you had,
595
00:43:14,052 --> 00:43:17,514
that was done through
manipulation or coercion,
596
00:43:17,598 --> 00:43:18,974
it's also called rape.
597
00:43:26,398 --> 00:43:30,611
We don't have to talk a lot.
We just have to read
598
00:43:30,694 --> 00:43:34,156
after your declaration,
to check that there are no mistakes…
599
00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:37,492
I do worry about the fact
that I ultimately resisted,
600
00:43:37,576 --> 00:43:39,328
and I ultimately did say no.
601
00:43:39,411 --> 00:43:41,747
And I left and I wasn't initiated.
602
00:43:42,539 --> 00:43:47,002
I didn't endure
the same horrors that others did.
603
00:43:47,085 --> 00:43:51,215
Therefore is that an indication
that their consent was valid,
604
00:43:51,298 --> 00:43:52,716
because I was able to say no?
605
00:43:56,637 --> 00:43:59,598
So this is the beginning
of the shops on the Cowley Road.
606
00:44:00,641 --> 00:44:03,060
So you can see the sign from here.
You see it?
607
00:44:05,646 --> 00:44:07,981
They're not going to say
that this didn't happen,
608
00:44:08,065 --> 00:44:11,693
they're going to say
that everybody consented.
609
00:44:11,777 --> 00:44:13,320
And therefore no crime occurred.
610
00:44:15,697 --> 00:44:18,992
That's the whole debate in this case.
611
00:44:19,076 --> 00:44:23,705
That is what the accused maintain:
that everybody was free.
612
00:44:24,873 --> 00:44:29,419
Every branch that was open
when I left is still open.
613
00:44:30,003 --> 00:44:31,713
They target students particularly.
614
00:44:31,797 --> 00:44:34,299
So it's really upsetting to think that
615
00:44:34,383 --> 00:44:37,344
a young impressionable person,
but potentially anyone,
616
00:44:37,427 --> 00:44:42,641
could just walk into that yoga studio
and have a yoga class, just like I did.
617
00:44:42,724 --> 00:44:47,604
Without knowing that it's connected
to Bivolaru, and MISA and that man.
618
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:52,150
I can see, as a lawyer
619
00:44:52,526 --> 00:44:58,615
dealing in these kind of cases,
620
00:44:58,699 --> 00:45:03,161
that all of these women
were under psychological control
621
00:45:03,245 --> 00:45:06,707
when they experienced
the acts they have reported.
622
00:45:08,333 --> 00:45:12,212
What is illegal in France,
is when you're part of a group
623
00:45:12,296 --> 00:45:15,591
and through a certain number
of conditioning techniques,
624
00:45:15,674 --> 00:45:18,468
you are stripped of your free will.
625
00:45:21,138 --> 00:45:23,891
I think that if it makes it to trial,
626
00:45:23,974 --> 00:45:27,060
it certainly won't happen
within the next year,
627
00:45:27,436 --> 00:45:30,480
and possibly not for two or three years.
628
00:45:33,025 --> 00:45:34,526
We wait.
629
00:45:34,610 --> 00:45:36,820
We wait proactively.
630
00:45:36,904 --> 00:45:40,657
We have a saying in France. I don't know
if the translator will get this:
631
00:45:40,741 --> 00:45:44,036
"We wait like soldiers,
weapons by our side,
632
00:45:44,119 --> 00:45:47,247
ready for action."
633
00:46:01,803 --> 00:46:03,889
It's been crazy actually. You know.
634
00:46:03,972 --> 00:46:07,518
I'm just still
trying to make sense of it all.
635
00:46:08,519 --> 00:46:11,021
Just finding myself again.
636
00:46:17,903 --> 00:46:21,240
I miss the community, I miss the teaching.
637
00:46:21,323 --> 00:46:24,076
I miss being so incredibly inspired.
638
00:46:25,369 --> 00:46:31,291
And I've also learned that we can't
just keep a gaze up to the light,
639
00:46:31,375 --> 00:46:33,168
when we're standing in a pile of shit.
640
00:46:36,505 --> 00:46:40,259
The time that I spent actually
in there and working alongside
641
00:46:40,342 --> 00:46:42,261
the other community members,
642
00:46:42,344 --> 00:46:45,764
I still feel like there's a sense
of accomplishment behind all of that.
643
00:46:48,308 --> 00:46:51,728
I have often wondered
what my life would be like
644
00:46:51,812 --> 00:46:54,857
if I hadn't been
in this organization for seven years.
645
00:46:56,024 --> 00:46:58,443
Maybe I would have had children.
I don't know.
646
00:46:58,527 --> 00:47:02,698
Like, maybe I'd have been in a long term,
monogamous relationship for that time.
647
00:47:02,781 --> 00:47:04,867
It's just really hard to know
what would have happened,
648
00:47:04,950 --> 00:47:06,952
and how life would have been.
649
00:47:10,873 --> 00:47:14,501
I think it's good to be curious about
650
00:47:14,585 --> 00:47:20,716
why we're here in this incredible planet.
651
00:47:22,050 --> 00:47:27,681
But life is hard.
Life is painful. Life is confusing.
652
00:47:27,764 --> 00:47:30,017
A lot of really horrible things happen,
653
00:47:30,475 --> 00:47:33,896
and we don't have the explanation for why,
654
00:47:33,979 --> 00:47:36,106
and maybe we're not supposed to.
655
00:47:39,026 --> 00:47:43,447
Some of my childhood dreams
were shattered
656
00:47:43,530 --> 00:47:45,949
by this cult and this way of life.
657
00:47:46,408 --> 00:47:50,245
I think it's our moral duty
to take a stand. To have a voice
658
00:47:50,329 --> 00:47:52,497
and to not let ourselves be intimidated.
659
00:47:53,373 --> 00:47:56,210
We have no reason to be ashamed.
660
00:47:56,835 --> 00:47:59,838
As I like to say in English,
661
00:47:59,922 --> 00:48:04,259
Only if you lose your fear,
you have the power to take their power.
662
00:48:07,596 --> 00:48:09,473
I'm still trying to figure out
663
00:48:09,556 --> 00:48:11,725
where I sit on the spiritual spectrum.
664
00:48:11,808 --> 00:48:13,268
Good boy, Gill.
665
00:48:13,352 --> 00:48:16,855
There is a sense of spirituality
there, but I don't know
666
00:48:16,939 --> 00:48:20,442
what I believe in anymore, and I'm
still trying to make sense of that.
667
00:48:22,569 --> 00:48:28,116
Since then, I realized
that I have this really deep connection
668
00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:32,454
with the spirituality, if we want
to call it god, or the universe or source,
669
00:48:32,538 --> 00:48:36,625
that I have such a deep experience
that I don't need a guru.
670
00:48:36,708 --> 00:48:40,963
I don't need anybody else.
All of this exists within me.