1 00:00:17,184 --> 00:00:22,481 That book, Yoni Shakti, I wrote it between 2010 and 2012. 2 00:00:22,564 --> 00:00:28,737 And Yoni Shakti is a guide for women towards power and freedom 3 00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:30,781 through yoga and tantra. 4 00:00:30,864 --> 00:00:35,327 It's about giving back to people to a respectful connection 5 00:00:35,410 --> 00:00:38,497 with the rhythms of the earth and the dynamism of life. 6 00:00:38,580 --> 00:00:41,124 Oh 7 00:00:41,208 --> 00:00:45,754 I wanted to know who else was connected to these practices. 8 00:00:46,630 --> 00:00:50,676 That's how I found the Danish school. 9 00:00:51,593 --> 00:00:52,970 It was like: "How interesting." 10 00:00:53,053 --> 00:00:56,139 That's why I put the reference. A footer, more like. 11 00:00:56,223 --> 00:00:58,308 A DANISH TANTRIC YOGA CAMP 12 00:00:58,392 --> 00:01:02,271 And I didn't think about it again until 2020, 13 00:01:02,354 --> 00:01:07,943 when a reader contacted me overcome by horror. 14 00:01:08,944 --> 00:01:11,947 She had been studying at that school 15 00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:15,033 and knew about the terrible things what happened there. 16 00:01:15,784 --> 00:01:18,579 From there, I started connecting with more people 17 00:01:18,662 --> 00:01:20,581 with similar experiences. 18 00:01:20,664 --> 00:01:23,250 They all said exactly the same thing. 19 00:01:25,544 --> 00:01:27,629 So I found the website 20 00:01:27,713 --> 00:01:32,676 and I saw that a small Danish studio yoga was part of this 21 00:01:32,759 --> 00:01:35,262 Atman International Federation. 22 00:01:35,345 --> 00:01:37,266 AFFILIATE MEMBER SCHOOLS TO THE ATMAN INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION 23 00:01:37,306 --> 00:01:39,349 There are members all over the world. 24 00:01:39,725 --> 00:01:42,895 When you check them one by one, You see they all have different names. 25 00:01:43,896 --> 00:01:45,564 In Romania, it is called MISA. 26 00:01:45,647 --> 00:01:47,526 MOVEMENT FOR INTEGRATION SPIRITUAL TO THE WHOLE 27 00:01:47,566 --> 00:01:49,526 In Sweden, it is also called Natha Yoga. 28 00:01:49,610 --> 00:01:50,819 NATHA SWEDEN NATHA DENMARK 29 00:01:50,903 --> 00:01:53,363 When you get to England... it's Tara. 30 00:01:53,989 --> 00:01:55,991 It is difficult to see the input relationship. 31 00:01:56,366 --> 00:01:58,994 At that moment, it was: 32 00:01:59,077 --> 00:02:02,414 "Oh...my...gosh. 33 00:02:02,497 --> 00:02:03,832 "They are everywhere." 34 00:02:04,958 --> 00:02:05,959 It was my life. 35 00:02:06,043 --> 00:02:07,878 Well, for me this was ten years ago 36 00:02:07,961 --> 00:02:10,380 but there are women going through the same thing right now. 37 00:02:10,464 --> 00:02:13,175 They said that everything had been consensual 38 00:02:13,258 --> 00:02:14,760 and they called me a liar. 39 00:02:15,219 --> 00:02:18,472 Have you had sex with any member of MISA? 40 00:02:18,555 --> 00:02:21,308 I wanted to move, change position, 41 00:02:21,391 --> 00:02:23,477 but he took me by the wrists 42 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,760 and I fixed them against the bed so that I would stay still. 43 00:02:26,104 --> 00:02:28,357 I just felt like I had to escape from there. 44 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,025 I couldn't take it anymore. 45 00:02:31,026 --> 00:02:32,152 He was... 46 00:02:32,236 --> 00:02:34,404 portrays as someone obsessed with sex. 47 00:02:34,780 --> 00:02:36,240 That's what the files say. 48 00:02:36,323 --> 00:02:38,951 Paris. Romania. Gur�. Sect. 49 00:02:39,034 --> 00:02:40,327 Ashleigh's testimony. 50 00:02:40,410 --> 00:02:41,954 He is the piece I was missing. 51 00:02:42,037 --> 00:02:43,037 Just watch them squirm. 52 00:02:45,832 --> 00:02:47,084 Everything began and ended... 53 00:02:47,876 --> 00:02:49,086 with him. 54 00:02:55,342 --> 00:03:02,224 TWISTED YOGA: THE SECT OF SILENCE 55 00:03:04,101 --> 00:03:10,941 CHAPTER THREE THE GUR� 56 00:03:13,986 --> 00:03:18,198 In July 2019, when I left Paris... 57 00:03:19,157 --> 00:03:20,452 HE JOINED IN 2018, IN ENGLAND 58 00:03:20,492 --> 00:03:23,203 ...I think I was aware of sexual abuse, but not... 59 00:03:23,287 --> 00:03:26,081 at that point, I couldn't understand the trafficking. 60 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,336 But I found myself in a constant reading frenzy. 61 00:03:31,420 --> 00:03:35,257 I was getting very obsessed with understanding things more and more. 62 00:03:36,925 --> 00:03:39,136 The school was still open. Everything was fine. 63 00:03:39,219 --> 00:03:41,763 And I knew that, day after day, more and more women 64 00:03:41,847 --> 00:03:44,683 They lived those same experiences and they were sent to Paris. 65 00:03:47,519 --> 00:03:48,799 JOINED IN 2016, IN DENMARK 66 00:03:48,854 --> 00:03:50,480 Ashleigh contacted me 67 00:03:50,564 --> 00:03:54,359 and he told me why he dropped out of school. 68 00:03:55,652 --> 00:03:58,447 I was like: "But what the hell is going on?" 69 00:03:59,573 --> 00:04:03,368 So I confronted to the main coordinators in Sweden, 70 00:04:04,077 --> 00:04:06,413 who told me: "All that is a lie." 71 00:04:07,998 --> 00:04:11,293 I think he thought he could induce change from within, 72 00:04:11,376 --> 00:04:14,338 help people understand will be freed from Bivolaru's control 73 00:04:14,421 --> 00:04:16,548 and continue with the good things about school. 74 00:04:16,632 --> 00:04:20,177 I was not able to recognize then that Bivolaru was the school incarnate. 75 00:04:21,845 --> 00:04:23,347 They answered me: 76 00:04:23,430 --> 00:04:26,683 "Our conviction is so strong we will do whatever it takes 77 00:04:26,767 --> 00:04:29,144 and we will support him no matter what." 78 00:04:29,603 --> 00:04:31,939 At that moment, I felt chills 79 00:04:32,022 --> 00:04:33,899 and a coldness enveloped me, I was thinking: 80 00:04:33,982 --> 00:04:38,737 "This is the kind of indoctrination that convinces people of anything. 81 00:04:38,820 --> 00:04:41,990 Surely that's how they thought in Jonestown... 82 00:04:42,991 --> 00:04:45,410 �They were at such a level in tune with this guy 83 00:04:45,494 --> 00:04:50,666 they would do anything no matter what to protect him?" 84 00:04:50,749 --> 00:04:55,087 That's when I got scared. I thought: "Damn... They lost their minds." 85 00:04:56,004 --> 00:05:01,093 It was around May 2020 86 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:03,804 that I expressed myself for the first time. 87 00:05:03,887 --> 00:05:07,182 Hello everyone. I'm Ashleigh and I direct cult awareness page. 88 00:05:07,266 --> 00:05:08,685 It's the first story that I think... 89 00:05:08,725 --> 00:05:12,271 I was very afraid that they would judge me or that they didn't understand me. 90 00:05:12,354 --> 00:05:13,981 At that time, I was very afraid 91 00:05:14,064 --> 00:05:16,233 and I was still trying to understand what had happened 92 00:05:16,316 --> 00:05:18,694 without being sure what I thought or how he felt about it. 93 00:05:18,777 --> 00:05:20,904 I was kind of oscillating between being 94 00:05:20,988 --> 00:05:24,241 very sure something was wrong and that he had escaped from a sect 95 00:05:24,324 --> 00:05:28,745 and sometimes think that I had made a mistake when I left 96 00:05:28,829 --> 00:05:31,498 and that I had strayed of the spiritual path. 97 00:05:31,582 --> 00:05:33,750 But then, I felt a need... 98 00:05:33,834 --> 00:05:35,043 I had to say something. 99 00:05:35,127 --> 00:05:36,920 Ask the teachers. 100 00:05:37,004 --> 00:05:40,841 "They are sending women to the guru to start them? 101 00:05:40,924 --> 00:05:41,925 "Is that happening?" 102 00:05:42,009 --> 00:05:44,011 Just watch them squirm. Or they will deny it... 103 00:05:44,094 --> 00:05:46,305 I thought I would feel very stupid 104 00:05:46,388 --> 00:05:48,891 If I went to the local police station to tell them: 105 00:05:48,974 --> 00:05:52,352 "Hey, something happened to me in France. "Can you help me?" 106 00:05:52,436 --> 00:05:54,313 I felt very stupid. I didn't know where to go. 107 00:05:55,939 --> 00:05:59,318 STROUD, ENGLAND 108 00:06:02,070 --> 00:06:05,240 The first time I heard people's experiences 109 00:06:05,324 --> 00:06:07,451 in the first school, in Scandinavia, 110 00:06:07,534 --> 00:06:11,038 They put me in touch with Ashleigh. Ashleigh Freckleton. 111 00:06:11,121 --> 00:06:12,331 What she sent me... 112 00:06:12,414 --> 00:06:14,124 I haven't been able to forget it. I got here. 113 00:06:14,208 --> 00:06:15,792 AUTHOR AND ACTIVIST 114 00:06:15,876 --> 00:06:19,004 I remember that it arrived in the mail. It was his testimony. 115 00:06:21,507 --> 00:06:26,678 "This photo was taken the night before from being trafficked to a foreign country 116 00:06:26,762 --> 00:06:29,223 at the hands of, for lack of a better term, a sect." 117 00:06:29,848 --> 00:06:31,808 People don't go to yoga classes 118 00:06:31,892 --> 00:06:33,685 because they want to do bad things. 119 00:06:33,769 --> 00:06:36,146 They are seeking self-improvement. 120 00:06:36,230 --> 00:06:39,107 Become better people. That's why she went. 121 00:06:39,191 --> 00:06:43,237 And so there I was, in the middle of London, with the appearance of a young and vibrant woman, 122 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,697 but completely broken for this experience. 123 00:06:45,781 --> 00:06:48,825 Doing that is perverse, isn't it? 124 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,163 Uma wanted to publish my testimony in his book anonymously. 125 00:06:53,247 --> 00:06:55,749 "IF YOU'RE AFRAID TO SAY NO, IT IS NOT CONSENT." 126 00:06:55,832 --> 00:06:58,168 It was the first time I felt that had a voice. 127 00:06:58,252 --> 00:07:01,713 On a larger scale. But then they started harassing her. 128 00:07:03,507 --> 00:07:08,595 In April 2021, I received a legal claim letter. 129 00:07:09,346 --> 00:07:12,641 Basically, it said that all the accusations he had made 130 00:07:12,724 --> 00:07:14,852 were "serious, false and defamatory." 131 00:07:14,935 --> 00:07:18,397 Which would cause your client to "would lose potential students, 132 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,900 which would cause economic losses." That was what they were worried about. 133 00:07:22,442 --> 00:07:25,445 At first, I felt disbelief. 134 00:07:26,613 --> 00:07:28,949 From then on, I only felt terror. 135 00:07:29,324 --> 00:07:31,952 They wanted me to reveal to them 136 00:07:32,035 --> 00:07:35,205 "identity and whereabouts of the parts they provided me 137 00:07:35,289 --> 00:07:38,709 the information he used for my defamatory accusations." 138 00:07:38,792 --> 00:07:42,546 They wanted to locate the survivors. That's what it was about, wasn't it? 139 00:07:44,047 --> 00:07:47,593 The process ended taking me to court three times 140 00:07:47,676 --> 00:07:51,763 and it took about two years to finish. 141 00:07:52,639 --> 00:07:57,603 At the end of that period, the judge decided that time was up, 142 00:07:57,686 --> 00:08:00,105 and that had been committed so many procedural errors 143 00:08:00,189 --> 00:08:03,233 that I had "won the court"... They wanted to dismiss the case. 144 00:08:03,317 --> 00:08:04,568 He couldn't move forward. 145 00:08:06,403 --> 00:08:07,946 Everything was a disaster. 146 00:08:08,030 --> 00:08:09,615 A financial disaster. 147 00:08:10,365 --> 00:08:12,034 But I didn't stop thinking about it. 148 00:08:12,117 --> 00:08:17,206 The stress I was under It was nothing compared to the suffering 149 00:08:17,289 --> 00:08:19,374 what those young women were going through. 150 00:08:23,086 --> 00:08:26,757 I was experimenting a disgusting feeling 151 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,676 that these teachings, essentially good, 152 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,889 they had been deformed to serve... 153 00:08:36,015 --> 00:08:38,268 to this hunger for power... 154 00:08:40,229 --> 00:08:44,691 of the person who was in charge, the one who taught them. 155 00:08:53,450 --> 00:08:56,745 People didn't treat him like a human being, 156 00:08:56,828 --> 00:08:58,539 but as a spiritual being. 157 00:09:00,874 --> 00:09:02,793 We were asked to see it 158 00:09:02,876 --> 00:09:07,089 like an illuminated, elevated being... 159 00:09:07,172 --> 00:09:09,132 JOINED IN 2014, IN SWEDEN 160 00:09:09,216 --> 00:09:11,136 ...than anything I said It would be the truth. 161 00:09:12,386 --> 00:09:15,097 Basically, it was Jesus Christ. 162 00:09:16,890 --> 00:09:19,518 I knew that the school He was born in Romania. 163 00:09:19,601 --> 00:09:21,687 They told me: 164 00:09:21,770 --> 00:09:25,649 "Don't even bother looking for information. It's nothing new..." 165 00:09:25,732 --> 00:09:27,401 HE JOINED IN 2017, IN ENGLAND 166 00:09:27,484 --> 00:09:30,237 "...the issue of religious persecution in the history of Romania. 167 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,365 He started teaching yoga in the days when it was illegal. 168 00:09:33,824 --> 00:09:38,912 Since then, he has been persecuted and demonized by the Romanian authorities. 169 00:09:38,996 --> 00:09:41,123 Only that you will find. 170 00:09:41,206 --> 00:09:43,208 So don't even bother looking." 171 00:09:46,211 --> 00:09:50,132 BUCHAREST, ROMANIA 172 00:09:51,717 --> 00:09:54,178 There is a neighborhood on the outskirts of Bucharest. 173 00:09:54,261 --> 00:09:55,470 It's called Ferentari. 174 00:09:56,722 --> 00:09:59,892 It is known because, of the houses 175 00:09:59,975 --> 00:10:03,103 that are used like �shrams by the MISA group, 176 00:10:03,187 --> 00:10:06,815 most of them were in those streets. 177 00:10:12,070 --> 00:10:14,489 The windows of these, If they exist, they are tiny... 178 00:10:14,573 --> 00:10:16,325 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST 179 00:10:16,408 --> 00:10:17,488 ...and the fences, very high. 180 00:10:17,534 --> 00:10:20,078 Many have huge satellite dishes. 181 00:10:20,787 --> 00:10:23,373 In 2004, 182 00:10:23,999 --> 00:10:27,961 the police obtained information that there was so much more going on 183 00:10:28,045 --> 00:10:33,175 in those houses than normal yoga classes. 184 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:35,677 MARCH 18, 2004 185 00:10:35,761 --> 00:10:39,973 Back then, He was the assigned prosecutor of the case... 186 00:10:40,057 --> 00:10:41,183 PROSECUTOR 187 00:10:41,266 --> 00:10:43,018 ...to investigate Bivolaru. 188 00:10:48,106 --> 00:10:53,403 The police received many complaints coming from parents, 189 00:10:53,946 --> 00:10:59,243 who told the authorities that their children were lost 190 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:02,663 because they had joined together to this such movement, MISA. 191 00:11:04,373 --> 00:11:08,252 They worried that their children 192 00:11:08,335 --> 00:11:13,131 they would have suddenly become part of a sect 193 00:11:13,215 --> 00:11:17,719 and they ended up separating from the family 194 00:11:17,803 --> 00:11:20,097 without a truly clear explanation. 195 00:11:21,682 --> 00:11:23,976 In addition to this, was the fact that many minors 196 00:11:24,059 --> 00:11:27,437 they could have been living in these shrams. 197 00:11:27,521 --> 00:11:31,108 The police declared to the media who had information 198 00:11:31,191 --> 00:11:35,404 which pointed to what was happening human trafficking in them. 199 00:11:35,487 --> 00:11:38,574 that organized crime could be active in the area. 200 00:11:45,664 --> 00:11:48,584 we get more of a surprise upon entering. 201 00:11:58,343 --> 00:12:03,056 I was hoping to find people from the criminal underworlds. 202 00:12:03,140 --> 00:12:08,061 Some muscular guys. 203 00:12:08,145 --> 00:12:09,563 But not. 204 00:12:16,195 --> 00:12:21,533 The women responded to each question with silence. 205 00:12:24,077 --> 00:12:29,791 Some of them were scared. 206 00:12:30,125 --> 00:12:32,002 I didn't feel like they were free. 207 00:12:33,086 --> 00:12:36,507 Honestly, I was very surprised. 208 00:12:40,677 --> 00:12:44,097 We found about 20 beds. 209 00:12:44,181 --> 00:12:49,102 Fifteen of these, if not more, They had at the foot of each one 210 00:12:49,186 --> 00:12:51,188 a photo of Bivolaru. 211 00:13:05,619 --> 00:13:12,084 I was born in Transylvania, a magical place. 212 00:13:13,335 --> 00:13:14,670 JOINED IN 1999, IN ROMANIA 213 00:13:14,753 --> 00:13:18,882 I became interested in yoga through friends of my mother, 214 00:13:18,966 --> 00:13:22,094 those who sought spirituality. 215 00:13:24,221 --> 00:13:26,682 It was a very attractive world 216 00:13:26,765 --> 00:13:31,353 to which the Romanians they had not had access until then 217 00:13:31,436 --> 00:13:34,189 because in communism closed minds abounded 218 00:13:34,273 --> 00:13:36,608 and we did not have access to that information. 219 00:13:36,692 --> 00:13:38,610 ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY 220 00:13:38,694 --> 00:13:39,987 REPUBLIC OF ROMANIA 221 00:13:40,070 --> 00:13:45,784 After communism, people needed to hold on to something. 222 00:13:45,868 --> 00:13:48,871 They needed something to believe in. 223 00:13:48,954 --> 00:13:53,041 Put your hopes and illusions in someone else. 224 00:13:57,254 --> 00:14:01,758 I was about 11 or 12 years old when my mother started attending classes. 225 00:14:01,842 --> 00:14:04,803 I wanted to attend. I was curious. 226 00:14:07,306 --> 00:14:13,312 It was very captivating to discover that there was a spiritual guru 227 00:14:13,395 --> 00:14:17,733 who had created a yoga school. 228 00:14:17,816 --> 00:14:21,486 Someone with the answers to all our questions. 229 00:14:23,655 --> 00:14:28,452 Just be there, close to that great teacher, 230 00:14:28,535 --> 00:14:33,081 it felt sacred to be able to experience something so intimate. 231 00:14:36,376 --> 00:14:42,549 The girls saw Shiva in Grieg, 232 00:14:42,633 --> 00:14:45,427 the symbol of masculinity and masculine energy. 233 00:14:45,969 --> 00:14:52,684 Being a 15 year old girl, I also started to see him as a god. 234 00:15:00,692 --> 00:15:05,197 Even later, When the investigation began, 235 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,867 We were still indoctrinated with this idea 236 00:15:09,409 --> 00:15:13,413 that the outside world He wanted to hurt us. 237 00:15:15,332 --> 00:15:18,544 who were conspiring against us for being too spiritual. 238 00:15:21,421 --> 00:15:24,174 Right after the raids, 239 00:15:24,258 --> 00:15:28,762 MISA began to build defenses and to organize protests. 240 00:15:30,472 --> 00:15:35,352 And then when everything was red hot and everyone was investigating MISA... 241 00:15:38,272 --> 00:15:40,607 Gregorian Bivolaru decided to run 242 00:15:40,691 --> 00:15:43,235 on a television show very popular, Marius Tuca... 243 00:15:43,777 --> 00:15:46,405 a few days after the raids. 244 00:15:46,488 --> 00:15:47,488 MARIUS TUCA PROGRAM 245 00:15:51,326 --> 00:15:53,787 MARCH 25, 2004 246 00:15:53,871 --> 00:15:54,997 THE SCANDAL OF M.I.S.A. 247 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:56,373 Good night. 248 00:15:56,456 --> 00:15:58,792 I would like to tell you at once 249 00:15:58,876 --> 00:16:02,087 that I am not the leader of MISA, 250 00:16:02,171 --> 00:16:05,591 but, if anything, the mentor of the movement. 251 00:16:05,966 --> 00:16:07,426 Why do they call him guru? 252 00:16:07,509 --> 00:16:14,349 Only the press calls me guru, in addition to those who seek to discredit me. 253 00:16:14,433 --> 00:16:16,727 I have always seen myself 254 00:16:16,810 --> 00:16:20,522 like the yoga teacher, Gregorian Bivolaru. 255 00:16:20,606 --> 00:16:25,110 �Has had sex with any MISA follower? 256 00:16:25,194 --> 00:16:27,821 I never have sex with anyone 257 00:16:27,905 --> 00:16:30,657 because sex It is a degrading activity. 258 00:16:30,741 --> 00:16:34,203 �He has made love with any MISA follower? 259 00:16:34,286 --> 00:16:37,664 What if I made love? Yes, I made love. 260 00:16:38,248 --> 00:16:43,462 Nothing degrading. Only natural love relationships 261 00:16:43,545 --> 00:16:48,133 as we all know them based on love and mutual respect. 262 00:16:52,054 --> 00:16:57,768 I was initiated in the early 2000s. 263 00:16:59,436 --> 00:17:01,396 I was a virgin. 264 00:17:03,273 --> 00:17:06,777 I won't go into much detail, 265 00:17:06,859 --> 00:17:10,405 but the experience was not special. 266 00:17:10,489 --> 00:17:13,450 I didn't feel any pleasure. Quite the opposite. 267 00:17:14,742 --> 00:17:18,664 I remember the bed was full of blood, but that didn't bother him. 268 00:17:20,165 --> 00:17:24,377 I remember that the tears They poured out of my eyes. 269 00:17:29,341 --> 00:17:32,553 He was 15 years and 6 months old. 270 00:17:37,766 --> 00:17:41,812 Everything manifests. Everything is harmony. 271 00:17:41,895 --> 00:17:47,693 God is the supreme creator of everything that exists. 272 00:17:47,776 --> 00:17:51,488 We must get to know him as much as we can 273 00:17:51,572 --> 00:17:55,325 through the practice of yoga in order to achieve a divine state. 274 00:17:56,368 --> 00:17:59,830 He had a certain kind of charisma. 275 00:17:59,913 --> 00:18:06,420 It was not a physical charisma. He never seemed attractive to me. 276 00:18:07,629 --> 00:18:13,302 We transfigured him constantly. We had him on an altar. 277 00:18:15,262 --> 00:18:21,852 I'm going to do something for everyone my followers in the next minute. 278 00:18:21,935 --> 00:18:24,605 I will create a state of happiness 279 00:18:24,688 --> 00:18:29,818 for all those open to receiving it. 280 00:18:29,902 --> 00:18:34,573 Through my connection to the infinite spheres of beneficial force 281 00:18:34,656 --> 00:18:35,991 that exist in the macrocosm. 282 00:18:36,575 --> 00:18:38,827 I'm going to start. 283 00:18:38,911 --> 00:18:43,874 He said he was going to transmit a status of absolute happiness 284 00:18:43,957 --> 00:18:49,004 to audience members that they believed in his philosophy. 285 00:19:00,641 --> 00:19:03,227 We almost died laughing when we saw it. 286 00:19:07,523 --> 00:19:12,861 There you were starting to wonder if this guy I was fine in the head. 287 00:19:18,909 --> 00:19:20,661 ANGERS, FRANCE 288 00:19:20,744 --> 00:19:22,746 I have been involved in fights 289 00:19:22,829 --> 00:19:26,625 against these types of movements and sects for many years. 290 00:19:27,209 --> 00:19:28,961 SECT INVESTIGATOR 291 00:19:29,044 --> 00:19:32,756 That's how I became interested in MISA. 292 00:19:36,510 --> 00:19:38,887 I wanted to understand his modus operandi. 293 00:19:38,971 --> 00:19:42,015 What was happening with MISA in France. 294 00:19:42,391 --> 00:19:46,186 I started to document myself and investigate slowly. 295 00:19:47,020 --> 00:19:50,274 It was very organized and the actions were the same. 296 00:19:52,776 --> 00:19:56,905 They had a kind of organized strategy 297 00:19:56,989 --> 00:20:01,535 in which they asked to women from all over the world, 298 00:20:01,618 --> 00:20:02,995 except for France, 299 00:20:03,078 --> 00:20:05,122 to come to France to be initiated 300 00:20:05,205 --> 00:20:08,417 because that way they would promote his personal development and all that. 301 00:20:11,170 --> 00:20:13,922 After this, they returned to their country. 302 00:20:14,715 --> 00:20:18,927 What can you do 1000 kilometers from your home? Nothing. 303 00:20:22,347 --> 00:20:23,807 It's very difficult to accept 304 00:20:23,891 --> 00:20:28,270 be under complete control from someone else. 305 00:20:29,188 --> 00:20:33,734 First of all, You need the testimonies of the victims. 306 00:20:34,484 --> 00:20:37,070 It was lucky of protection for Bivolaru, 307 00:20:37,154 --> 00:20:40,282 have no complaints in France coming from French victims. 308 00:20:41,491 --> 00:20:44,995 I filed a report in the United Kingdom, before the Royal Charity Commission. 309 00:20:45,537 --> 00:20:47,122 That was of no use. 310 00:20:47,748 --> 00:20:51,001 I also interjected something before Crime Stoppers International. 311 00:20:51,084 --> 00:20:53,086 I followed up a couple of times, 312 00:20:53,170 --> 00:20:56,882 but that was of no use either. Nobody contacted me. 313 00:20:56,965 --> 00:20:59,885 Nobody seemed to want to take my testimony. 314 00:21:00,552 --> 00:21:03,347 SEPTEMBER 2021 315 00:21:03,430 --> 00:21:05,807 I set a few alerts on my computer. 316 00:21:06,767 --> 00:21:09,937 Paris. Romania. Gur�. Sect. 317 00:21:10,020 --> 00:21:11,104 SEARCH 318 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,774 It didn't take long to find 319 00:21:13,857 --> 00:21:16,610 an article in an Australian newspaper. 320 00:21:17,110 --> 00:21:20,155 Paris. Romania. Gur�. Sect. 321 00:21:20,239 --> 00:21:22,032 Ashleigh's testimony. 322 00:21:22,407 --> 00:21:24,743 ASHLEIGH FRECKLETON SURVIVED A CULT. 323 00:21:24,826 --> 00:21:25,827 "Hello, Ashleigh, 324 00:21:26,954 --> 00:21:29,414 allow me to introduce myself...". 325 00:21:30,374 --> 00:21:33,627 In fact it's... Yeah, it's kind of crazy, because from my point of view then, 326 00:21:33,710 --> 00:21:36,255 He was just a guy anyone in France. 327 00:21:37,673 --> 00:21:38,799 Still, 328 00:21:38,882 --> 00:21:42,344 He was the missing piece I needed to involve foreign police. 329 00:21:44,096 --> 00:21:48,267 So I got in touch with Ashleigh and shared her testimony 330 00:21:48,350 --> 00:21:50,769 to the police department 331 00:21:50,853 --> 00:21:55,357 who was in charge of everything regarding sects in France. 332 00:21:57,276 --> 00:22:00,654 PARIS, FRANCE 333 00:22:01,947 --> 00:22:05,534 CAIMADES, CRIMES UNIT OF SECTS OF THE FRENCH NATIONAL POLICE 334 00:22:05,617 --> 00:22:09,454 We knew there were problems 335 00:22:09,538 --> 00:22:13,375 with this movement, but before 2021, 336 00:22:13,458 --> 00:22:16,587 the investigation It hadn't really started. 337 00:22:17,212 --> 00:22:21,008 CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT FRENCH NATIONAL POLICE 338 00:22:21,091 --> 00:22:23,677 The first crucial step is listening to the victims. 339 00:22:24,511 --> 00:22:29,433 Caimades, a specialized anti-sect unit, 340 00:22:29,975 --> 00:22:34,021 He contacted me. They told me they wanted my testimony. 341 00:22:35,063 --> 00:22:38,400 Then they asked me if I wanted formally file a lawsuit. 342 00:22:38,483 --> 00:22:39,484 I told them yes. 343 00:22:41,361 --> 00:22:44,865 we realized that there was a possibility 344 00:22:44,948 --> 00:22:48,243 that Gregorian Bivolaru will be found in French territory. 345 00:22:49,453 --> 00:22:51,955 But the situation was delicate, since there was a risk 346 00:22:52,039 --> 00:22:53,957 Gregorian Bivolaru escaped. 347 00:22:54,041 --> 00:22:59,171 I had such a network of contacts that would have vanished immediately. 348 00:23:06,470 --> 00:23:10,349 Gregorian Bivolaru He is on trial on five charges. 349 00:23:10,432 --> 00:23:13,560 These include multiple sexual crimes, 350 00:23:13,644 --> 00:23:15,771 such as sexual corruption, trafficking of minors, 351 00:23:15,854 --> 00:23:21,693 have sexual relations with minors and attempt to cross the border illegally. 352 00:23:21,777 --> 00:23:25,906 After the raids, Gregorian Bivolaru He denied all the accusations. 353 00:23:26,490 --> 00:23:29,910 What do you plan to do now? Will he try to hide? 354 00:23:29,993 --> 00:23:33,413 No, I won't try to hide. I have no reason to hide. 355 00:23:33,497 --> 00:23:37,793 After that, the trial began and Bivolaru disappeared from the map. 356 00:23:37,876 --> 00:23:39,795 He didn't go to court. 357 00:23:40,921 --> 00:23:42,798 The next thing we knew 358 00:23:42,881 --> 00:23:46,343 was that Gregorian Bivolaru had appeared somewhere in Sweden. 359 00:23:47,302 --> 00:23:48,804 Captured! Gregorian Bivolaru, 360 00:23:48,887 --> 00:23:52,057 the most wanted romanian of the last days He was caught in Sweden. 361 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:55,310 It had only been 15 years... 362 00:23:55,394 --> 00:23:56,728 GREGORIAN BIVOLARU ASYLUM 363 00:23:56,812 --> 00:23:58,814 ...since the fall of the communist regime. 364 00:23:58,897 --> 00:24:00,697 ASYLUM IN SWEDEN BY GREGORIAN BIVOLARU, 2005 365 00:24:01,942 --> 00:24:07,364 So MISA used this argument which was still sensitive in Romania. 366 00:24:07,447 --> 00:24:11,702 Say that Romania It was still a corrupt country, 367 00:24:11,785 --> 00:24:15,080 a country in which the police He went too far with the use of force. 368 00:24:15,163 --> 00:24:17,958 All this to convince 369 00:24:18,041 --> 00:24:21,461 to the Swedish authorities to deny the extradition request. 370 00:24:21,545 --> 00:24:23,755 a strong blow to the Romanian justice system. 371 00:24:23,839 --> 00:24:26,133 Gregorian Bivolaru He cannot be extradited. 372 00:24:26,216 --> 00:24:28,969 That's what the Supreme Court decided. of Justice in Stockholm. 373 00:24:29,887 --> 00:24:32,431 The Swedish judges feared that the spiritual leader of MISA 374 00:24:32,514 --> 00:24:34,349 was persecuted in Romania. 375 00:24:34,933 --> 00:24:39,479 He escaped from Romania in 2004 heading to Sweden. 376 00:24:40,314 --> 00:24:42,566 So, officially, I lived in Sweden. 377 00:24:42,649 --> 00:24:46,820 But there is evidence that, at least since 2007, 378 00:24:46,904 --> 00:24:49,448 He went to France and stayed there. 379 00:24:59,249 --> 00:25:02,127 everything i did He was very connected to the school. 380 00:25:02,211 --> 00:25:03,545 JOINED IN 2014, IN SWEDEN 381 00:25:03,629 --> 00:25:06,173 My life was spent there for a few years. 382 00:25:08,717 --> 00:25:12,721 Then I started going out with people outside the school, 383 00:25:12,804 --> 00:25:17,392 I met someone, I had a son and my outlook changed. 384 00:25:19,686 --> 00:25:23,106 I was very disappointed, because I really didn't understand 385 00:25:23,190 --> 00:25:29,488 that life with a small child required a lot of dedication and energy. 386 00:25:29,571 --> 00:25:31,907 I felt like I was falling behind. 387 00:25:35,118 --> 00:25:38,455 I was dedicating myself completely to motherhood. 388 00:25:38,539 --> 00:25:40,958 Then a friend called me and said: 389 00:25:41,041 --> 00:25:45,045 "Look, there are a couple of things that I would like to share with you." 390 00:25:47,297 --> 00:25:49,800 So my friend visited me one day, sat on my couch... 391 00:25:49,883 --> 00:25:51,885 JOINED IN 2013, IN SWEDEN 392 00:25:51,969 --> 00:25:57,349 ...and he started telling me about women who lived horrible experiences. 393 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,479 In my case, I joined because I wanted to. 394 00:26:02,563 --> 00:26:04,565 I really wanted it, with all my being. 395 00:26:04,648 --> 00:26:08,735 That's why I never felt the need to do things against my will. 396 00:26:08,819 --> 00:26:11,613 The choice was one hundred percent mine. 397 00:26:15,242 --> 00:26:17,202 But at the same time, 398 00:26:17,286 --> 00:26:22,958 there was a huge hidden pressure on a lot of people to do things 399 00:26:23,041 --> 00:26:27,379 against their wills, of their limits and of themselves. 400 00:26:27,462 --> 00:26:30,090 We did not feel safe enough 401 00:26:30,174 --> 00:26:33,719 to be able to say: "You know what? "I really don't want to do this." 402 00:26:40,309 --> 00:26:44,605 About webcams It was a recent business. 403 00:26:44,688 --> 00:26:48,317 when I arrived at the MISA center. 404 00:26:50,444 --> 00:26:55,991 Officially, I was not allowed to work with web cameras for being a minor. 405 00:26:56,074 --> 00:26:59,703 But it was completely normal work a few times 406 00:26:59,786 --> 00:27:02,080 using other girls' passports. 407 00:27:02,164 --> 00:27:06,084 As long as they resemble each other, there was no problem. 408 00:27:06,168 --> 00:27:07,671 AGNES WEBCAM IMAGE TAKEN IN 2002 409 00:27:07,711 --> 00:27:09,381 IN WHICH LOOKS DOWN, EVADING THE CAMERA. 410 00:27:09,421 --> 00:27:11,216 THIS IMAGE EVOKES INNOCENCE AND A SUBTLE CHARM 411 00:27:11,256 --> 00:27:15,093 It was then that I understood the scale. It was learned that they had 40 shrams. 412 00:27:15,177 --> 00:27:20,432 They bought entire buildings and had headquarters and hotels in Costinesti. 413 00:27:20,516 --> 00:27:25,229 I understood then that prosperity of this "non-profit" organization 414 00:27:25,312 --> 00:27:28,941 came from the websites and web cameras. 415 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,657 PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC 416 00:27:36,740 --> 00:27:39,493 I signed a contract and they took my photo. 417 00:27:40,244 --> 00:27:42,621 They said one of the reasons... 418 00:27:42,704 --> 00:27:44,917 MIRANDA, WITH A RELAXED LOOK, SMILE ATTRACTIVELY 419 00:27:44,957 --> 00:27:47,002 WHILE POSING FOR HIS PROFILE PHOTO FROM THE WEBCAM SITE 420 00:27:47,042 --> 00:27:53,006 ...why this place is so special It's because the profits go directly to him. 421 00:27:53,590 --> 00:27:54,758 They go to Grieg. 422 00:28:00,097 --> 00:28:04,351 In terms of our growth and development at school, 423 00:28:05,519 --> 00:28:07,479 everything began and ended with Grieg. 424 00:28:07,563 --> 00:28:10,315 BUCHAREST, ROMANIA 425 00:28:10,399 --> 00:28:13,777 The school had many teachers 426 00:28:13,861 --> 00:28:18,991 which were incredibly intelligent and charismatic. 427 00:28:19,074 --> 00:28:23,245 They all adored this human being. 428 00:28:25,581 --> 00:28:29,459 But everyone who knows the yin and yang symbol 429 00:28:29,543 --> 00:28:33,922 you know there is a pinch from darkness to all light 430 00:28:35,924 --> 00:28:39,678 just as there is a pinch of light in all darkness. 431 00:28:41,555 --> 00:28:43,182 I think I assumed 432 00:28:43,265 --> 00:28:46,518 that the hint of darkness in it It was very small. 433 00:28:48,228 --> 00:28:50,898 But seeing everything that has been discovered, 434 00:28:50,981 --> 00:28:54,776 I think this bit of darkness It's much bigger than we thought. 435 00:28:59,364 --> 00:29:01,700 MISA and Gregorian Bivolaru 436 00:29:01,783 --> 00:29:08,290 they have always presented Bivolaru as a victim and as a hero. 437 00:29:10,501 --> 00:29:14,838 Who has always been a victim of oppression, attacks, harassment, 438 00:29:14,922 --> 00:29:17,257 unjustified imprisonment, torture, assaults... 439 00:29:19,259 --> 00:29:23,722 at the hands of the ancient Romanian secret police. 440 00:29:23,805 --> 00:29:25,516 It was called Securitate. 441 00:29:26,058 --> 00:29:28,727 SECURITATE FILES (SECRET POLICE) 442 00:29:32,105 --> 00:29:35,567 It is true that, during the communist regime, 443 00:29:35,651 --> 00:29:39,279 we lived in a society closed and totalitarian. 444 00:29:41,156 --> 00:29:47,788 But now, years later, we can see these files 445 00:29:47,871 --> 00:29:50,207 and know what really happened. 446 00:29:52,417 --> 00:29:57,381 FILE, DATABASE ABOUT GREGORIAN BIVOLARU 447 00:30:04,137 --> 00:30:05,931 The first time it was spoken... 448 00:30:07,391 --> 00:30:11,812 that the Securitate was monitoring to Gregorian Bivolaru 449 00:30:13,063 --> 00:30:17,609 It was in 1971. 450 00:30:18,402 --> 00:30:23,240 Back then, Bivolaru was 19 years old 451 00:30:23,323 --> 00:30:26,994 and he was in his last year of high school. 452 00:30:28,203 --> 00:30:34,168 They discovered that he was in contact with foreign citizens 453 00:30:34,251 --> 00:30:39,173 to whom I requested pornographic material, 454 00:30:39,256 --> 00:30:42,301 such as photos and magazines. 455 00:30:42,843 --> 00:30:45,137 We have one of these letters. 456 00:30:45,220 --> 00:30:47,931 It dates back to 1972, I think. 457 00:30:50,058 --> 00:30:51,685 "I know many things 458 00:30:51,768 --> 00:30:54,855 about sexual freedom in Sweden and I want pictures of it." 459 00:30:54,938 --> 00:30:56,942 THIS BLURRY PHOTO SHOWS TO AN INNOCENT APPEARING BIVOLARU 460 00:30:56,982 --> 00:30:59,736 WHAT DID NOT ACCORD WITH HIS ACTIVITY FROM THEN OR HIS LATER INFAMY 461 00:30:59,776 --> 00:31:02,696 "You would like to send me photos and sexy slides from Sweden?" 462 00:31:02,779 --> 00:31:03,780 Another letter said: 463 00:31:03,864 --> 00:31:06,950 "I have great sympathy for the Germans 464 00:31:07,034 --> 00:31:08,285 and, in her sexy photos, 465 00:31:08,368 --> 00:31:13,457 I can notice the emancipated understanding of sexuality in Germany". 466 00:31:14,875 --> 00:31:18,462 Later, he was convicted of treason, 467 00:31:18,545 --> 00:31:23,592 by possession and distribution of pornographic material. 468 00:31:23,675 --> 00:31:26,345 He was not arrested because he practiced yoga. 469 00:31:26,428 --> 00:31:28,138 It's what we have in the files. 470 00:31:29,473 --> 00:31:31,642 In the summer of 1989, 471 00:31:31,725 --> 00:31:36,480 the Securitate organized raids in several cities in Romania 472 00:31:36,563 --> 00:31:40,025 to dismantle groups yoga practitioners. 473 00:31:43,612 --> 00:31:47,115 Yoga was prohibited since 1982. 474 00:31:47,199 --> 00:31:51,328 Bivolaru was the leader of one of these groups and was arrested because of that. 475 00:31:51,411 --> 00:31:56,708 But this time, the Securitate decided that he should not be in prison, 476 00:31:56,792 --> 00:32:00,045 but in a psychiatric hospital. 477 00:32:03,423 --> 00:32:07,678 He is portrayed as someone... 478 00:32:07,761 --> 00:32:09,012 obsessed with sex. 479 00:32:11,223 --> 00:32:15,102 In his own words, in 1989, 480 00:32:15,185 --> 00:32:17,062 he told the Securitate agents 481 00:32:17,145 --> 00:32:22,442 this: "One day, between 1986 and 1987, 482 00:32:22,526 --> 00:32:28,782 I met a 12 year old girl, with brown hair, near my house. 483 00:32:28,866 --> 00:32:30,117 I think she was a gypsy. 484 00:32:32,661 --> 00:32:35,706 I asked a very close friend of mine 485 00:32:35,789 --> 00:32:39,918 who had intimate relationships with the girl 486 00:32:40,002 --> 00:32:43,922 And after having done it, he would introduce her to me 487 00:32:44,006 --> 00:32:48,051 so that I could start it in the rituals of tantric sex". 488 00:32:48,468 --> 00:32:50,846 That shows potential interest 489 00:32:50,929 --> 00:32:55,767 in very young women of very long standing. 490 00:32:57,019 --> 00:33:01,273 He goes on to say that Bivolaru, according to the years, 491 00:33:01,356 --> 00:33:06,153 she asked her friends to recruit other women for him. 492 00:33:09,072 --> 00:33:12,451 A psychiatric examination was performed 493 00:33:13,744 --> 00:33:18,415 which confirmed that he I didn't have the mental capacity 494 00:33:18,498 --> 00:33:21,168 to evaluate your own actions or your own needs. 495 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,046 A few months later... 496 00:33:25,255 --> 00:33:27,925 Romania's communist regime fell. 497 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:29,635 DECEMBER 1989 498 00:33:29,718 --> 00:33:33,388 After this, a special commission of this psychiatric unit 499 00:33:33,472 --> 00:33:36,099 decided to free Gregorian Bivolaru. 500 00:33:36,934 --> 00:33:40,938 Shortly after this, in 1990, 501 00:33:41,021 --> 00:33:44,066 The group known as MISA was born. 502 00:33:50,239 --> 00:33:54,618 So, after going to Prague, I went back to the UK 503 00:33:55,327 --> 00:33:57,579 and there I started to realize 504 00:33:57,663 --> 00:34:01,166 how extreme the teachings were and school practices. 505 00:34:03,418 --> 00:34:07,881 A website appeared that was made by people 506 00:34:07,965 --> 00:34:09,716 who were enemies of the school. 507 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:11,176 WWW.EXMISA.BLOGSPOT.COM 508 00:34:11,260 --> 00:34:14,804 They told us it was demonic and that it was better that we not visit him. 509 00:34:14,888 --> 00:34:18,225 EXMISA, GREGORIAN BIVOLARU, SECT OF MISA AND COMPANY DISCOVERED, TELL US EVERYTHING 510 00:34:18,308 --> 00:34:21,603 On New Year's Eve 2021, at my house, I visited the site and... 511 00:34:21,687 --> 00:34:23,438 WE ARE A GROUP OF FORMER MASS FOLLOWERS. 512 00:34:23,522 --> 00:34:24,762 ...it was like seeing myself in a mirror. 513 00:34:25,690 --> 00:34:27,194 ASHLEIGH FRECKLETON THROWS MISA TO SHARTS 514 00:34:27,234 --> 00:34:29,695 It did nothing more than confirm what I already felt. 515 00:34:29,777 --> 00:34:31,572 LIES, THEFT, FRAUD (88) TESTIMONIES ABOUT MASS (83) 516 00:34:31,612 --> 00:34:32,612 All those moments... 517 00:34:32,656 --> 00:34:33,532 MISS PORN 518 00:34:33,614 --> 00:34:36,534 ...of doubts and inconsistencies Now they made sense. 519 00:34:37,286 --> 00:34:39,746 Just like that word, sect, which before 520 00:34:39,830 --> 00:34:42,916 I had not been willing to accept 521 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,253 for believing it was a term that was only used to denigrate 522 00:34:46,335 --> 00:34:49,255 to religion and spirituality, and thus keep people away from these. 523 00:34:51,216 --> 00:34:53,302 At that moment, On that New Year's Eve, 524 00:34:53,385 --> 00:34:55,929 I understood for the first time that I had to go. 525 00:34:56,013 --> 00:34:57,514 That I had to abandon everything. 526 00:34:57,598 --> 00:35:00,684 And that he had to do something about it. I had to say something. 527 00:35:01,768 --> 00:35:05,647 So it was obvious to me 528 00:35:05,731 --> 00:35:09,735 how evil they were and what they were capable of. 529 00:35:12,237 --> 00:35:18,243 They declared that everything had been consensual and they called me a liar. 530 00:35:18,327 --> 00:35:21,788 People I thought were my friends 531 00:35:21,872 --> 00:35:25,459 They told lies about me, that I had lost my spiritual path. 532 00:35:26,376 --> 00:35:31,548 This filled me with sadness, that those foundations of community, 533 00:35:31,632 --> 00:35:36,386 that had become an important support for me and they helped me to continue inside, 534 00:35:36,762 --> 00:35:39,056 They were nothing more than an illusion. 535 00:35:39,139 --> 00:35:41,850 The community wasn't real. My friendships weren't real. 536 00:35:41,934 --> 00:35:46,855 You didn't have a chance to be yourself. 537 00:35:53,278 --> 00:35:57,741 I received a call from my first partner at that time, Paula. 538 00:35:59,034 --> 00:36:01,578 At first, I wasn't ready to discuss it... 539 00:36:01,662 --> 00:36:03,163 JOINED IN 2014, IN DENMARK 540 00:36:03,247 --> 00:36:05,457 ...but in the end I I told everything and this was... 541 00:36:05,541 --> 00:36:09,753 the last confirmation that I was missing. The straw that broke the camel's back. 542 00:36:17,302 --> 00:36:20,973 The fourth and last visit It was in October 2019. 543 00:36:28,105 --> 00:36:31,275 I wanted to move, change position, 544 00:36:31,358 --> 00:36:35,821 but he held me by the wrists and I fixed them to the bed. 545 00:36:35,904 --> 00:36:40,826 Like for me to stay still. Then it went a little further. 546 00:36:40,909 --> 00:36:44,246 He didn't keep them fixed, but he put them there, you know? And then he let them go. 547 00:36:44,329 --> 00:36:46,540 A few minutes after this, 548 00:36:46,623 --> 00:36:49,501 I started crying so he would leave me alone. 549 00:36:52,004 --> 00:36:54,840 After finishing, He was yelling at me for like three hours. 550 00:36:55,340 --> 00:36:57,885 He told me never again They were going to invite me again. 551 00:36:58,510 --> 00:37:00,888 Because I didn't deserve it. Because I didn't love him. 552 00:37:02,014 --> 00:37:05,392 After he left his room and I left with the girls, 553 00:37:05,475 --> 00:37:09,271 He entered this room to continue telling me horrible things. 554 00:37:09,354 --> 00:37:12,274 That is, he repeated all the things horrible things that he said to me alone, 555 00:37:12,357 --> 00:37:13,650 in front of the girls. 556 00:37:15,485 --> 00:37:17,779 Then I said, "I'll never come back here." 557 00:37:17,863 --> 00:37:20,324 I saw everything very clearly. I said to myself: "This is... 558 00:37:20,407 --> 00:37:24,286 This is the opposite to what I expected it to be." 559 00:37:24,369 --> 00:37:25,454 Can I explain? 560 00:37:26,121 --> 00:37:29,625 I mean, everything was super traumatic. I didn't enjoy anything at all. 561 00:37:29,917 --> 00:37:34,796 I mean, they are forcing me to pretend that I want to do something that I don't want to do. 562 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:39,259 And they are humiliating me Because I don't want to do it, you know? 563 00:37:43,013 --> 00:37:44,973 That was the straw that broke the camel's back. 564 00:37:45,057 --> 00:37:47,518 I couldn't take it anymore. 565 00:37:47,601 --> 00:37:51,396 I just thought, "I have to get out of here. "I can't continue with this." 566 00:37:52,022 --> 00:37:53,649 PARIS, FRANCE 567 00:37:53,732 --> 00:37:56,777 A researcher from France contacted me. 568 00:37:56,860 --> 00:37:58,904 I agreed to give him my testimony. 569 00:38:01,698 --> 00:38:05,369 It is not easy for the victims of a sect testify. 570 00:38:06,453 --> 00:38:09,748 They are victims who are under the control of someone else. 571 00:38:09,831 --> 00:38:13,794 This psychological control prevents these They see themselves as victims. 572 00:38:16,171 --> 00:38:20,968 They have to trust the researchers to be able to tell us what happened. 573 00:38:21,051 --> 00:38:24,930 They have to feel heard and understood. 574 00:38:27,516 --> 00:38:31,228 I was contacted by a special unit. 575 00:38:31,645 --> 00:38:33,689 Judging by the interrogation techniques 576 00:38:33,772 --> 00:38:36,441 and the use of language of this French unit, 577 00:38:36,525 --> 00:38:38,277 I could see that they understood what I experienced. 578 00:38:39,069 --> 00:38:41,905 I gave them my testimony. 579 00:38:41,989 --> 00:38:46,910 I just knew it was what I had What to do, he had no other options. 580 00:38:49,162 --> 00:38:50,581 By the time they got to me, 581 00:38:50,664 --> 00:38:53,250 They already had the testimonies of other victims. 582 00:38:53,333 --> 00:38:56,545 When I saw them, I thought: "This is me ten years ago..." 583 00:38:56,628 --> 00:38:58,046 JOINED IN 2012, IN DENMARK 584 00:38:58,130 --> 00:39:00,424 "...but there are women passing for this right now." 585 00:39:02,092 --> 00:39:04,638 I mean, I knew it had been victim of human trafficking and rape, 586 00:39:04,678 --> 00:39:07,639 and that had become clear to me thanks to my therapy sessions 587 00:39:07,723 --> 00:39:09,975 and some things that I had read until then. 588 00:39:10,058 --> 00:39:13,312 But there was something about hearing it repeated by police officers, 589 00:39:13,395 --> 00:39:17,316 after listening to the extreme details personal stories that I gave in several interviews, 590 00:39:17,399 --> 00:39:19,776 hear them say: "Yes, that's what happened. 591 00:39:19,860 --> 00:39:22,279 And it is a very serious crime under French law, 592 00:39:23,572 --> 00:39:27,034 and of course we will wear this until the last consequences". 593 00:39:30,078 --> 00:39:33,165 At the right time, with the permission of the magistrate, 594 00:39:33,248 --> 00:39:35,042 We launched a large-scale operation. 595 00:39:36,210 --> 00:39:39,421 We had 170 active officers. 596 00:39:40,589 --> 00:39:43,800 Just before the operation, We had some doubts. 597 00:39:45,010 --> 00:39:48,180 What were we going to find? behind those doors, 598 00:39:50,390 --> 00:39:53,519 behind which Had no one else managed to catch a glimpse? 599 00:39:54,353 --> 00:39:55,896 NOVEMBER 28, 2023 600 00:39:55,979 --> 00:39:59,983 175 police officers They were mobilized to make 40 arrests. 601 00:40:00,067 --> 00:40:02,277 All these related with a yoga sect. 602 00:40:02,361 --> 00:40:03,862 "Tantric yoga guru arrested 603 00:40:03,946 --> 00:40:06,698 under accusations of abuse and sexual exploitation in France". 604 00:40:07,157 --> 00:40:09,868 He is suspected of abuse of dozens of women. 605 00:40:09,952 --> 00:40:12,412 I was elated. I don't know. It's just... I don't... 606 00:40:12,496 --> 00:40:15,332 I mean, really, when Ziggy He called me, I had nothing... 607 00:40:15,415 --> 00:40:17,251 I couldn't find the words. 608 00:40:17,334 --> 00:40:20,879 The guru was in a small apartment near Paris 609 00:40:20,963 --> 00:40:22,631 when he was captured yesterday. 610 00:40:22,714 --> 00:40:25,759 This seems to be the beginning of reckoning 611 00:40:25,843 --> 00:40:28,428 that we all hoped to see arrive. 612 00:40:28,804 --> 00:40:31,723 He chose a certain number of women 613 00:40:31,807 --> 00:40:35,978 from all over the world to be initiated. 614 00:40:36,061 --> 00:40:39,356 A sexual initiation under the guise of personal development. 615 00:40:40,065 --> 00:40:42,276 At first, I wasn't sure it was real. 616 00:40:42,359 --> 00:40:46,989 It was like a huge surprise, much gratitude and relief. 617 00:40:48,365 --> 00:40:49,616 Come in. 618 00:40:50,409 --> 00:40:53,453 Under suspicion of being the leader of a sect. 619 00:40:53,537 --> 00:40:58,292 Accused of rape, human trafficking and organized crime. 620 00:40:58,375 --> 00:41:01,128 We haven't reached the end yet. This is the first step 621 00:41:01,211 --> 00:41:03,589 in what will be a very slow process. 622 00:41:03,672 --> 00:41:07,676 But at least we know that he can't anymore keep doing what he was doing. 623 00:41:15,100 --> 00:41:16,894 At the time of the operation, 624 00:41:16,977 --> 00:41:19,177 the charges against of the movement were the following: 625 00:41:20,898 --> 00:41:23,817 Abuse of weakness through the use of psychological control. 626 00:41:24,526 --> 00:41:27,779 Human trafficking and rape. 627 00:41:32,659 --> 00:41:35,871 You think he's a criminal, guilty of what he is accused of? 628 00:41:41,001 --> 00:41:43,504 Once I saw my experience 629 00:41:43,587 --> 00:41:47,341 and the events that took place outside the optics of their dogma 630 00:41:48,050 --> 00:41:53,180 and I applied this to the context of the reactions of normal people, 631 00:41:53,263 --> 00:41:58,393 my own emotions and experiences, and legal definitions, 632 00:41:58,477 --> 00:42:03,440 I understood that what happened Yes, it was human trafficking and rape. 633 00:42:06,568 --> 00:42:10,489 This... Yes, in my system. 634 00:42:11,198 --> 00:42:15,619 Plus, the story is complicated. 635 00:42:20,707 --> 00:42:23,710 But ultimately, responsibility is... 636 00:42:24,461 --> 00:42:25,712 of him. 637 00:42:29,591 --> 00:42:32,719 For me, this had only been a bad experience until then. 638 00:42:32,803 --> 00:42:34,721 I talked to my therapist and she told me: 639 00:42:34,805 --> 00:42:38,517 "Look, let's name it to the things that happened." 640 00:42:40,519 --> 00:42:41,937 "When you were kidnapped..." 641 00:42:42,020 --> 00:42:45,858 She started using all these words in therapy. It was truly contradictory. 642 00:42:45,941 --> 00:42:47,901 I was like, "Look, I don't want to hear that." 643 00:42:47,985 --> 00:42:49,444 "That's not what happened." 644 00:42:49,528 --> 00:42:51,321 She really helped me. 645 00:42:51,405 --> 00:42:54,366 to give names to things that, that is... 646 00:42:54,449 --> 00:42:57,077 To give it the correct name to the things that happened to me. 647 00:42:58,328 --> 00:43:01,790 Then I saw the things they accused him of. 648 00:43:01,874 --> 00:43:04,126 until they said: "Rape." 649 00:43:04,209 --> 00:43:08,130 After this, they explained what it was a violation in the French legal framework. 650 00:43:10,174 --> 00:43:13,969 Any type of sexual interaction 651 00:43:14,052 --> 00:43:17,514 that occurred under manipulation or coercion, 652 00:43:17,598 --> 00:43:18,974 It was also a rape. 653 00:43:19,975 --> 00:43:23,645 PARIS, FRANCE 654 00:43:24,813 --> 00:43:26,315 JUNE 2024 655 00:43:26,398 --> 00:43:29,735 You don't have to talk much. We just have to read... 656 00:43:29,818 --> 00:43:31,820 PREJUDICE INVESTIGATION HEARING 657 00:43:31,904 --> 00:43:34,199 ...after your statement to make sure there are no errors... 658 00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:37,492 I am very concerned about the fact that, ultimately, I resisted 659 00:43:37,576 --> 00:43:39,328 and I said no. 660 00:43:39,411 --> 00:43:41,747 I left without being initiated. 661 00:43:42,539 --> 00:43:47,002 I didn't experience the same horrors than the rest of the victims. 662 00:43:47,085 --> 00:43:51,215 Therefore, could this validate consent, 663 00:43:51,298 --> 00:43:52,716 that I could say no? 664 00:43:55,427 --> 00:43:56,553 OXFORD, ENGLAND 665 00:43:56,637 --> 00:43:59,598 This is where the shops on Cowley Road begin. 666 00:44:00,641 --> 00:44:03,060 The sign can be seen from here. Do you see it? 667 00:44:03,143 --> 00:44:05,562 TARA YOGA CENTER YOGA, TANTRA, SPIRITUALITY 668 00:44:05,646 --> 00:44:07,981 They are not going to say that none of this happened. 669 00:44:08,065 --> 00:44:11,693 What they will say is that everything was consensual 670 00:44:11,777 --> 00:44:13,457 and that, therefore, there was no crime. 671 00:44:15,697 --> 00:44:17,533 It is the high point of this case. 672 00:44:17,616 --> 00:44:18,992 PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY 673 00:44:19,076 --> 00:44:23,705 This is what the accused insists on: that everyone was free. 674 00:44:24,873 --> 00:44:29,419 All branches that were open When I left, they are still open. 675 00:44:30,003 --> 00:44:31,713 The students They are its primary objective. 676 00:44:31,797 --> 00:44:34,299 It's really disturbing to think 677 00:44:34,383 --> 00:44:37,344 than a young and impressionable person, without limiting these, 678 00:44:37,427 --> 00:44:42,641 I could enter one of these studies of yoga and attend a class, like me. 679 00:44:42,724 --> 00:44:47,604 Without knowing that the school is connected with MISA and with Bivolaru. 680 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:52,150 It is obvious to me, as a lawyer 681 00:44:52,526 --> 00:44:58,615 who deals with these types of cases, 682 00:44:58,699 --> 00:45:03,161 that all these women They were under psychological control 683 00:45:03,245 --> 00:45:06,707 when they lived the acts that they reported having lived. 684 00:45:08,333 --> 00:45:12,212 What is illegal in France is to be part of a group 685 00:45:12,296 --> 00:45:15,591 that, through the use of certain conditioning techniques, 686 00:45:15,674 --> 00:45:18,468 takes away their free will to his victims. 687 00:45:21,138 --> 00:45:23,891 I think if this goes to trial, 688 00:45:23,974 --> 00:45:27,060 won't do it until later from next year at least, 689 00:45:27,436 --> 00:45:30,480 if not even inside two or three years. 690 00:45:33,025 --> 00:45:34,526 We will wait. 691 00:45:34,610 --> 00:45:36,820 But it will be an active wait. 692 00:45:36,904 --> 00:45:40,657 We have a saying in France. I don't know if the translator will understand it: 693 00:45:40,741 --> 00:45:44,036 "We will wait like soldiers, with our weapons ready 694 00:45:44,119 --> 00:45:47,247 and prepared for action". 695 00:46:01,803 --> 00:46:03,889 In fact it has been crazy. 696 00:46:03,972 --> 00:46:07,518 I'm still trying to do that this makes sense. 697 00:46:08,519 --> 00:46:11,021 I try to find myself. 698 00:46:17,903 --> 00:46:21,240 I miss the community. I miss the teachings. 699 00:46:21,323 --> 00:46:24,076 I miss being super inspired. 700 00:46:25,369 --> 00:46:31,291 I have also understood that you can't see the sun 701 00:46:31,375 --> 00:46:33,168 being sunk in shit. 702 00:46:36,505 --> 00:46:40,259 That time I shared there, working together 703 00:46:40,342 --> 00:46:42,261 with other members of the community, 704 00:46:42,344 --> 00:46:45,764 I still feel that they were achieved good things then. 705 00:46:48,308 --> 00:46:51,728 Sometimes I wonder what would have become of me 706 00:46:51,812 --> 00:46:54,857 if it had not been united to this organization for seven years. 707 00:46:56,024 --> 00:46:58,443 Maybe he would have had children. I don't know. 708 00:46:58,527 --> 00:47:02,698 Maybe I would have been in a monogamous relationship at the time. 709 00:47:02,781 --> 00:47:04,867 It is very difficult to know what would have happened, 710 00:47:04,950 --> 00:47:06,952 what my life would have been like. 711 00:47:10,873 --> 00:47:14,501 I think it's a good thing to be curious. 712 00:47:14,585 --> 00:47:20,716 about why we are on this incredible planet. 713 00:47:22,050 --> 00:47:27,681 But life is difficult. It's painful. It's confusing. 714 00:47:27,764 --> 00:47:30,017 Horrible things happen every day 715 00:47:30,475 --> 00:47:33,896 and no one can explain them. 716 00:47:33,979 --> 00:47:36,106 Maybe they have no explanation. 717 00:47:39,026 --> 00:47:43,447 Many of the dreams of my childhood were torn to pieces 718 00:47:43,530 --> 00:47:45,949 for this sect and this way of life. 719 00:47:46,408 --> 00:47:50,245 I think it is our moral duty pronounce us Raise your voice 720 00:47:50,329 --> 00:47:52,497 and not allow anyone to intimidate us. 721 00:47:53,373 --> 00:47:56,210 We have no reason to feel ashamed. 722 00:47:56,835 --> 00:47:59,838 I like this English saying: 723 00:47:59,922 --> 00:48:04,259 Only if you lose your fear, You will have the power to take away their power. 724 00:48:07,596 --> 00:48:09,473 I'm still trying to understand 725 00:48:09,556 --> 00:48:11,725 where on the spiritual spectrum I find myself 726 00:48:11,808 --> 00:48:13,268 Good boy, Gill. 727 00:48:13,352 --> 00:48:16,855 I have a certain feeling of spirituality, but I no longer know 728 00:48:16,939 --> 00:48:20,442 what to believe in. It's another thing I'm still trying to understand. 729 00:48:22,569 --> 00:48:28,116 Since then, I have realized that I have such a deep connection 730 00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:32,454 with spirituality, whatever you want to call it God, the universe, the source, whatever, 731 00:48:32,538 --> 00:48:36,625 that my experience is so vast I don't need a guru. 732 00:48:36,708 --> 00:48:40,963 I don't need anyone else. All this exists within me. 733 00:48:46,552 --> 00:48:48,972 NATHA Denmark declared that it fully operates compliance with Danish legislation, 734 00:48:49,012 --> 00:48:51,183 that has never organized or facilitated trips to meet Bivolaru 735 00:48:51,223 --> 00:48:53,101 and that is not responsible of anyone's personal decisions. 736 00:48:53,141 --> 00:48:54,770 NATHA Sweden declared that it operates independently, 737 00:48:54,810 --> 00:48:56,021 in full compliance of Swedish legislation 738 00:48:56,061 --> 00:48:58,774 and has no legal, financial ties or administrative with Bivolaru. 739 00:48:58,814 --> 00:49:00,317 He said that any student who has met Bivolaru 740 00:49:00,357 --> 00:49:01,650 did it independently 741 00:49:01,733 --> 00:49:03,362 and what aims to take any concerns, suggestions 742 00:49:03,402 --> 00:49:05,002 or criticism from your students seriously. 743 00:49:05,988 --> 00:49:08,575 The Tara yoga center stated that, Due to ongoing legal proceedings, 744 00:49:08,615 --> 00:49:10,075 cannot issue comments. 745 00:49:10,158 --> 00:49:11,702 Atman declared that he is not responsible 746 00:49:11,785 --> 00:49:14,663 for the private life of its staff, school students or teachers 747 00:49:14,746 --> 00:49:17,751 affiliates and that the current accusations They are under investigation, not proven. 748 00:49:17,791 --> 00:49:19,671 They all said condemn any form of abuse. 749 00:49:20,460 --> 00:49:22,714 In a statement, MISA denied all accusations of trafficking, 750 00:49:22,754 --> 00:49:24,006 abuse, manipulation or coercion, 751 00:49:24,089 --> 00:49:25,924 stating that the ongoing case in France 752 00:49:26,008 --> 00:49:28,095 comes from an old pattern of misunderstandings 753 00:49:28,135 --> 00:49:29,805 and discrimination against his teachings, 754 00:49:29,845 --> 00:49:32,015 particularly those that combine spirituality and eroticism. 755 00:49:32,055 --> 00:49:35,017 He emphasized personal development positive of thousands of students, 756 00:49:35,100 --> 00:49:36,770 rejecting the accusations considering them a witch hunt 757 00:49:36,810 --> 00:49:39,130 based on testimony of some dissatisfied customers. 758 00:49:39,938 --> 00:49:42,900 Gregorian Bivolaru was contacted through their legal representatives, 759 00:49:42,983 --> 00:49:43,984 but he didn't answer. 760 00:49:44,067 --> 00:49:47,112 He denies all charges against him.