SOLAR TEMPLE: TABACHNIK ACQUITTED

"Solar Temple families no closer to knowing truth"

by Roy Probert (Swissinfo, June 25, 2001)

A court in the French city of Grenoble has acquitted the Swiss orchestra conductor, Michel Tabachnik, of involvement in the deaths of 16 followers of the Solar Temple Order. The verdict means the chances of a Swiss investigation into the religious cult being reopened are now exceedingly slim.
Tabachnik, the first person to be tried in connection with the Solar Temple Order deaths, was not in court to hear the verdict read out, but outside the courtroom his lawyers expressed their satisfaction with the decision.
"Today's verdict brings to an end a long and painful ordeal for my client," said defence lawyer Francois Szpiner.
His delight was not shared by lawyers acting for the families of the 16 victims of the mass-suicides-killings in the Vercors region of France, nor the legal team representing those that died in the Swiss incidents a year earlier. Many of them had predicted this outcome.
"The prosecution has failed in its mission to prove what they were accusing the defendant of," said Jacques Barillon, a lawyer representing the families of Swiss victims of the Solar Temple Order.
"I am not surprised by this verdict," said Dominique Warluzel, the Geneva-based lawyer representing Alain Vuarnet, the son of a former French Olympic skiing champion, who lost his mother and brother in the incident at Vercors.
"To uphold a charge of criminal association, you need tangible, concrete evidence", he told swissinfo. "I'm not surprised that the court decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, since nothing new came to light."
Sixteen people died in the ritual killing at Vercors in December 1995. Fourteen of the bodies were arranged in a circle and set on fire. One year earlier, 48 people, including a number of children, had died in two apparent mass-suicides in Switzerland, at Granges-sur-Salvan in canton Valais, and Cheiry in canton Fribourg.
Among the dead at Salvan were the sect's two highest-ranking leaders, Jo di Mambro and Luc Jouret. The prosecution had claimed that Tabachnik had continued to be a close associate of di Mambro. The defendant insisted he had severed his links with the sect in 1992, two years before the first killings.
The Valais authorities never began a judicial procedure into the affair, while in canton Fribourg, the authorities closed their inquiry in August 1998 without bringing anyone to trial because those believed responsible, di Mambro and Jouret, were dead.
A number of the families believed that if the Swiss had launched a criminal investigation, and surviving members of the Order had been placed under surveillance, the Vercors killings might not have happened.
"Following this verdict, the chances of the Swiss investigation being reopened are extremely slim," says Jacques Barillon.
"The families expected this verdict, because the trial yielded nothing new. But we must remain vigilant - you never know what might happen. But I admit, the families are disillusioned," he told swissinfo.

"French court clears conductor of cult deaths"

(Reuters, June 25, 2001)

GRENOBLE, France - A French court cleared Swiss orchestra conductor Michel Tabachnik on Monday of conspiracy to murder charges stemming from his involvement in the Order of the Solar Temple doomsday sect.
Prosecutors had urged the court to jail him for five years for allegedly inciting cult members into suicide pacts. Tabachnik's trial took place in April, but French courts regularly announce their verdicts after a delay of weeks or months.
The trial in Grenoble, in the French Alps, focused mainly on the deaths of 16 sect members -- including three children -- whose charred bodies were found, laid out in a star pattern, in December 1995 in a remote French Alpine forest.
Prosecutors said Tabachnik played a leading role in the sect, whose members believed that "death voyages" by ritualized suicide lead to rebirth on the star Sirius.
Tabachnik, 58, admitted he once had links to the cult but insisted he knew nothing about any of the mass suicides, which led 74 members to their deaths in Europe and Canada between 1994 and 1997.
The sect was founded in the early 1990s by Joseph Di Mambro, a Frenchman, and Luc Jouret, a Swiss national. It is now believed to be dormant.
Tabachnik, a specialist in contemporary music, is also a composer. His career has been on hold since he was placed under investigation in 1996. He was not present in Grenoble when the court cleared him.

"Conductor cleared of cult deaths"

(BBC, June 25, 2001)

Tabachnik faced 10 years if found guilty
A French court has found a Franco-Swiss orchestra conductor not guilty of involvement in the deaths of 74 members of a doomsday cult. Michel Tabachnik had been charged in connection with a series of ritual killings and suicides of members of the Order of the Solar Temple, between 1994 and 1997.
Cult victims died in France, Switzerland and Canada
Sixteen of the bodies were found in France, sparking a lengthy inquiry which led to Mr Tabachnik's trial. Mr Tabachnik, 58, had been accused of "participation in a criminal association", an offence which carried a maximum sentence of 10 years. "I have come before my judges because I have done absolutely nothing wrong," Mr Tabachnik told the court.
Redemption mission
Prosecutors had argued that Mr Tabachnik took part in two crucial meetings in 1994, at which the decision was taken to end the sect's "mission" and wind up its affairs. They said Mr Tabachnik played a role in conditioning cult members to believe they were in an elite group with a mission of redemption.
Co-founder Luc Jouret was among the dead
Eleven days after the second meeting, 48 cult members were found gassed or shot in Switzerland. Others were found dead in fires in Canada. The following December, 16 more charred bodies - including those of four children - were found, this time in a forest in the French Alps. All had been shot in the head, and laid out in a star formation in a forest clearing.
A French judge who investigated the deaths decided that two cult members killed the others and then themselves, but some relatives believe the perpetrators did not die and are still at large.
Ideology
The 74 dead cult members included founders Luc Jouret and Joseph di Mambro, who had allegedly taken money from their followers before convincing them they had to die by burning in order to reach the afterlife. Prosecutors had argued that Mr Tabachnik had close links with di Mambro, drawing up documents defining the sect's ideology. But Mr Tabachnik insisted that he himself had been among those exploited by di Mambro. Mr Tabachnik studied under Pierre Boulez and became famous as a conductor specialising in contemporary music, holding orchestral posts in Canada, Portugal and France.

"Relaxe pour Michel Tabachnik"

(AFP, 25/06/2001 )

GRENOBLE - Le chef d'orchestre franco-suisse Michel Tabachnik a été relaxé lundi par le tribunal correctionnel de Grenoble dans le cadre du procès des tueries-suicides d'adeptes de l'Ordre du Temple Solaire.
Une peine de cinq ans d'emprisonnement ferme avait été requise contre le chef d'orchestre franco-suisse, âgé de 58 ans, à l'issue de neuf jours de débats en avril dernier. "Michel Tabachnik s'est expliqué devant ses juges, il leur a fait confiance et il a eu raison. Cela met fin à un long calvaire pour mon client", a déclaré lundi, après l'énoncé du jugement, l'avocat du prévenu, Me François Szpiner.