- Title: UKRAINE: RELIGIOUS SECT ADVOCATES MASS SUICIDE, CHILDREN TAKEN IN TO DETENTION
- Date: 29th October 1993
- Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (OCTOBER 29, 1993) TARAS PROTSYUK (REUTERS TELEVISION) GV PAN SV CHILDREN LYING IN BEDS/ HIDING FROM CAMERA/ INSIDE DETENTION CENTRE (2 SHOTS) SV TRACK GIRLS LYING IN BED GV GIRLS HIDING FROM CAMERA/ PRAYING TO CULT LEADER MARIA DEVI KRISTOS SV PAN SV CHILDREN TRYING TO LEAVE/ PREVENTED BY POLICE/ SINGING (2 SHOTS) GV MISERABLE CHILDREN HIDING THEIR FACES (4 SHOTS) SV BOY HOLDING BOOK/ SAYING THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN MARIA DEVI WILL BE PUNISHED (UKRAINIAN)
- Embargoed: 13th November 1993 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KIEV, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Religion,Religion
- Reuters ID: LVACMQWNZAXR66FT1ZH8ZL3WOFLS
- Story Text: As many as 150,000 devotees of an extremist religious cult that advocates mass suicide are due to descend on Kiev to witness Judgement Day next month, and Ukrainian security forces fear there could be violence.
About 200 people identified as members of the White Brotherhood cult are being detained in Ukrainian hospitals and jails, including 43 adolescents who appear to have been brainwashed and have refused to eat or drink for more than a week.
One of the cult's leaders, Ukrainian-born Maria Tsvygun, is prepared to die on November 24 and has instructed some of her followers to commit suicide. Tsvygun -- who calls herself Maria Devi Khristos, "the living god on earth" -- is scheduled to come out of hiding on November 1 and make an initial appearance in Kiev.
Placards of Tsvygun wearing a white robe and head-dress are plastered in cities in the former Soviet Union, mostly in the Slavic countries of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, and in Moldova.
Despite critical media reports, the White Brotherhood is popular in the former Soviet Union, particularly among young people.
Police have charged another of the cult's leaders, Yuri Krivonogov, with extortion. They say he makes his followers sell everything and hand over their money under hypnosis.
A representative of the Society for the Protection of Human Rights said on Friday that the children should be released from the detention centre where they are currently being held.
"The authorities should let them carry out their actions peacefully, without provocation, so that there will be no casualties," he said. He added that they were practically under arrest and would stay on their hunger strike until they died.
The children were prevented by police from leaving the centre and defiantly sang in praise of their leader, Maria Devi.
A psychiatrist from the centre told Reuters the children had been brainwashed and were like zombies. The children have refused to speak to authorities. "We don't know who they are or where they are from," said a spokesman from the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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