Russian sect leader jailed for 11 years
2013-02-07 14:03
Moscow - A Russian sect leader who called himself an
alien was on Thursday sentenced to 11 years in prison after being found guilty
of raping and sexually abusing his followers, authorities said.
Established in Siberia in 1989, the self-sufficient
Ashram Shambala sect had branches in 19 regions as well as in Moscow and Saint
Petersburg.
Investigators said that under the leadership of Konstantin
Rudnev, the sect promoted occult practices and indulged in drug-induced orgies
and ritual-based mind control.
"Initially Rudnev and his confidants conducted paid
yoga seminars where they selected the most gullible people," regional
investigators based in Novosibirsk said in a statement.
Afterwards future followers, mostly women between 18 and
40, were placed in the sect where rigorous physical exercises were combined
with "aggressive psychological influence", investigators added.
Rudnev penned a book in which he ridiculed traditional
values like having a family, studying and working, a spokesperson for regional
prosecutors in Novosibirsk, Natalya Markasova, told AFP.
National television in Thursday broadcast footage of
Rudnev, a pot-bellied man in his 40s, sitting inside a defendant's cage.
It also showed archive footage of a sect meeting,
featuring scantily-clad women in black stockings and short dresses.
- SAPA
