French police arrest yoga guru, 40 others over suspected sexual exploitation of followers
French authorities arrested the leader of a multinational tantric yoga organization Tuesday on suspicion of indoctrinating female followers for sexual exploitation.
The Romanian guru at the heart of the Atman Yoga Federation was detained during a massive morning police operation across the Paris region, according to a French judicial official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.
The French official identified the man as Gregorian B., whom French media identified as Gregorian Bivolaru, 71, an internationally known yoga teacher and author. The Altman Federation, which is headquartered in England, runs yoga courses and yoga teacher trainings.
According to the French official, the investigation into Bivolaru and the yoga federation, which also is known as the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute, began after reports of psychological manipulation and sexual exploitation within the organization. Former MISA members alerted authorities to the alleged abuses.
Bivolaru is being charged with human trafficking, organized kidnapping, rape, and organized abuse of weakness by members of a sect, according to French authorities.
International police agency Interpol also has issued a notice for Bivolaru's arrest on behalf of authorities in Finland, where he is wanted for alleged aggravated trafficking in human beings.
The Altman federation's website and other sites on Bivolaru allege that he is the victim of a wide-ranging plot to discredit him.
The raids in France involved 175 police officers and resulted in 40 other arrests across the French capital, Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne, and the Alpes-Maritimes.
The operation targeted several locations used by the organization, where women were reportedly indoctrinated and coerced into sexual practices. The locations, described as “ashrams,” served as housing for women selected by Bivolaru for initiation into tantric yoga practices, according to French authorities.
Bivolaru, who was convicted of raping a minor in his native Romania, founded MISA in 1990. The organization expanded internationally as the Atman Yoga Federation.
The French investigation found evidence that students were coerced into sexual activities that included participating in explicit video chats for monetary gain, according to the judicial official. These alleged activities, purportedly carried out under the pretense of tantric yoga teachings, formed a part of an intricate system of financial exploitation and control, the official said.
(AP)
Canadian Security Intelligence Service staff allege rape, bullying in ‘toxic’ B.C. office
A rookie surveillance officer with Canada’s spy agency and another officer decades her senior were tracking a person in British Columbia in the summer of 2019 when they lost sight of their target.
She said the senior officer later blamed a communications failure due to a radio dead zone.
But the woman said the real reason was her colleague was raping her, having broken off surveillance to drive to a parkade where the alleged attack took place in their Canadian Security Intelligence Service vehicle.
The man, who was supposed to be her mentor and coach, treated his “own needs as more important than doing the job,” she said in an interview.
She said she was raped by her colleague nine times while at work in CSIS surveillance vehicles between July 2019 and February 2020.
A second officer said she too was sexually assaulted as a rookie by the same officer in surveillance vehicles during covert missions, despite warnings from the first to their bosses that he should not be partnered with young women.
They say supervisors told them other women had complained about not feeling safe around the man in the past.
“Nothing was done, and I started hearing these stories that there was this history of all these women (who) used to be working at our region. They used to be there, and they all had the same thing to say, and they all just ended up leaving,” the second officer said.
For more on this story please go to: The women are among four officers
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