Luigi Corvaglia
The Italian Job
In July 2020, my self-esteem flinched. The annual report on religious freedom in the world by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) closed with recommendations to U.S. President - then Trump - on how to protect this fundamental right; among the recommendations was to obstruct the work of FECRIS, the European Federation of Centers for Research and Information on Sectarianism, at the annual OSCE Meeting in Warsaw. Well, representing FECRIS at the annual OSCE Human Dimension Conference to denounce abuses in totalitarian cults is exactly the humble person who signs this writing.
So began my dossier on the geopolitics of cults (2022). The incipit was with effect. Trump should have taken care of obstructing me (with all the busyness he's had fighting the "deep state"). This grotesque revelation plunged the stunned reader right onto the scene. Like a shrewd director, after surprising him with other equally grotesque revelations, I led him into an orderly historical reconstruction. It was a story about cults, espionage and psychological warfare. Basically, it was the chronicle of a "spy story" That report would be translated into English, French and Dutch and then published in 2023 in the Fogli di Via series by the de Ferrari Foundation.
Jeffrey Augustine, an investigator who is among the best known critics of Scientology in the world, has written on the subject:
Corvaglia offers the most accurate description yet read of what is, essentially, a multinational religious-based intelligence operation.
Arnaud Palisson, the analyst who headed French intelligence service's "cults and sects" department for ten years, said:
The dossier on geopolitics of is a unique model. [...]
I would not have thought that a work that is, after all, a hodgepodge written with a light hand and ironic wit, would be so well received. Internationally renowned researchers and academics began ask me for advice to fill in the gaps in their knowledge of the dynamics I described, especially with regard to the Italian side. I therefore believe that the time has come to transform the material, which was deliberately presented in a "filmic" way at the time, into a more straightforward and organic treatment, supplementing it with new information and, above all, placing it better in the ideological and political framework. In this prologue, however, I take the liberty of resuming the spirit of that first dossier so that the reader, unfamiliar with the dynamics of the obscure world I am going to discuss, can be introduced to it with the right attitude, i.e. with the curiosity of the incredulous. In order to attract the attention that everyone has for the incongruous, I report some grotesque things that are useful for this purpose. The first is the fact that my narcissism has been tickled not only by the fact that a US government agency has advised the President to obstruct the little person writing here, but also by the further fact that immediately afterwards a non-governmental organisation called the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) proposed that Italy be placed on the list of countries at risk in terms of religious freedom because of my presence. You may be surprised at this by reading the article "Also Europe in the Special Watch List?" (Figures 2 and 3).
Figure 2-3 - Excerpt from FOB article saying that all countries where FECRIS operates should be monitored for risks to religious freedom (fig.2) because no French or Russians are going to the OSCE - that is, an Italian is going... (fig.3)
To make matters worse, the president of this organisation, Alessandro Amicarelli, accused me in a public Facebook post of colluding with the Chinese communist regime in the commission of various nefarious acts, including the forced removal of organs from dissidents (fig.4). The statement is at least original, so the person who doesn't mind uttering it must also be interesting. Let's get to know him.
Alessandro Amicarelli, Alex to his friends, is a lawyer practicing in London. His correspondence address, as stated on the U.K. Business Register page, 78 York St, London W1H 1DP, gives the appearance of being the headquarters of a company with the sympathetic name of "Billy the Duck Ltd" and which deals in video production and lists only one employee).In truth, the same address, a small corner room, is home to a dozen other companies (but no law firm). They will fit in.
On his personal page, Amicarelli describes himself as a "lawyer, lecturer and philanthropist" He therefore loves his neighbour, as the etymology of the word suggests. This is made even clearer by the fact that he describes himself as the "Founder and President of the Embassy of Love International" on the aforementioned page. The fact that the name is reminiscent of an ambiguous nightclub inspired me to find out more.
The European company search engine North Data creates interesting networks by connecting companies and individuals together based on their business connections. The tab dedicated to Amicarelli contains the pattern of connections shown in Figure 6.
If you click on the link to "Embassy of Love Ltd" you will learn that it has its registered office on none other than Regent Street (Figure 7). Those who know London know that it is a truly exclusive address. However, a simple search for that address reveals an interesting fact. The elegant building is known for harbouring fake addresses for bogus companies, i.e. a virtual address used by thousands of fraudsters (Figure 8). In fact, the address is used by around 4,000 companies, some of which are known to have scammed their investors. However, North Data is an engine that only censuses European companies, while Amicarelli, on his page, claims to have established his embassy of love in the US.
In fact, In addition to the company that appears to be registered in Cardiff, Wales, on 16 February 2021, there is another one in the USA that was registered on 6 February 2023 (he likes February) under the name Embassy of Love International Ministries, with its registered office in Washington state.
The U.S. address corresponds to the Fidelity Building in Spokane (below in a photo - fig. 10 - taken from Google's Street View where part of it appears blurred at the request of some of the businesses located there).
It is not known what the two sister companies are involved in. Even the UK company register entry does not reveal the purpose of the company, although it does mention duties and remuneration.
If we look at the other nodes directly linked to the lawyer, we see Roma Nation Embassy, a company based at, you guessed it..., yes, 207 Regent Street! Activity? Unknown.
We also see that he is connected with Obaseki & Co Ltd, the law firm run by Nigerian lawyers where he runs his practise. In the team photo, you can catch a glimpse of Amicarelli peeking out from behind the heads in the front row (Figure 11). You can recognise him because he is the only "Caucasian."
Surprisingly, this studio is actually at the address given in the records, Bentley Road, a far less cool neighbourhood than Regent Street, where he prefers to have his correspondence sent (Figure 12).
Poking around the other nodes in the network reported by North Data, we see a direct connection to the All Faiths Network for the United Kingdom. This is one of the multiple organizations under the umbrella of Scientology.
This religious holding, whose credo is a mixture of Gnosticism, magic and science fiction (you can read a summary of its doctrine in the first chapter of this report), is an organism with many faces and many manifestations. One of these is the All Faiths Network, whose director is William Martin Weightman, not coincidentally another direct node of Amicarelli, as North Data reports. It's easy to find out who Weightman is.
He is a proud member of the Church of Scientology and, as he states on his Linkedin page, former director of the church's human rights office (Figure 13).
This is no surprise. In fact, Amicarelli, Weightman and a certain Rabbi Jeff Berger of the church of Scientology in London, have co-signed a book on Covid 19 published by the All faiths Network. There is a picture of me on page 25. The photo of the philanthropist speaking at a meeting of the All faiths Network under the effigy of Scientology founder Ron L. Hubbard was also not lost on me (Figure 14).
The All Faiths Network is one of the members of the European federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB), of which Amicarelli is President. Other constituent associations of the federation include Soteria International, an expression of the Atman Yoga organisation of Gregorian Bivolaru, the guru who has been wanted by Interpol for years and finally arrested in France in 2023 on charges of criminal conspiracy, human trafficking and sexual abuse; then there is the European Interreligious Forum For Religious Freedom, whose president is the "Rev." Eric Roux, President of the United Churches of Scientology in France and vice-president of the European Office of Public Affairs and Human Rights of Church of Scientology (and probably head of the OSA, the Church's intelligence) and the European Coordination for Freedom of Conscience (CAP LC), whose president is Thierry Valle, also a rapresentative of Scientology.
Figure 14 bis - Eric Roux e Thierry Valle
One of the founding members, and still a member of the Federation's scientific committee, is Fabrizio d'Agostini, who in the Scientology magazine "Ethics and Truth," expressed his satisfaction at having achieved OT 6 certification, one of the highest levels in the Scientology hierarchy (Figure 15). It almost suggests that FOB has something to do with Scientology.
Incidentally, Amicarelli is also the surname of the historical spokesman for Scientology in Italy, Fabio Amicarelli. Of course, it does not mean anything, it could be a name match, but there is a third Amicarelli, the hypnotist Michele Amicarelli, who also sits on FOB's scientific committee. Three people with the same last name all connected to the same world. It may be, although Amicarelli is not a very common surname in Italy. Below (Figures 16 and 17) you can see a comparison between the prevalence of that surname and mine, which is also not very common except locally.
What is FOB about? As you can read on their website, it promotes and protects religious freedom. FOB is in the register of lobbyists at the European Parliament and the European Commission.
In January 2016, I reported all this to the ‘Linkiesta’ newspaper, which published an article by Carmine Gazzanni that included an interview with me. The FOB's immediate reaction was a response in the same magazine, threatening to sue the author of the article and me for defamation. I responded on the same page:
I don't think anyone, inside or outside FOB, would have the temerity to say that Scientology, for one, is not at least a "controversial" organisation. Yet the FOB board writes that this statement is "damaging." Why? If being part of even controversial organizations is the right that FOB defends to the hilt, why should the statement that its members are also part of such organizations be injurious! Perhaps an association that defends gay rights would be offended if it were accused of some of its members being homosexuals? A curious logical wrapping up that can only be explained by the FOB board's fear that this might cast doubt on the Federation's true aims.
Of course, no lawsuit followed.
Most of the articles published on the organisation's website website are taken from the magazine Bitter Winter. This is the magazine of the Centre for the Study of New Religions (CESNUR) of the well-known Massimo Introvigne, whose wife is herself on the scientific committee of FOB). This prolific author is also the president of a strange company called E-religion SNC, which claims to have only one employee. The company was founded in 2001 (the employee was hired 20 years later).
Between embassies of love and electronic religion, the various societies that can be linked to the cadre of defenders of "religious freedom" appear increasingly intriguing and mysterious. What will all these entities with registration numbers, mailboxes and emails ever be used for? We will not be told. What is certain is that inferences, rumors and, the more time passes, interesting clues are circulating on the subject....
The latest grotesquerie is the use of a photo taken on 29 September 2017 in Salekhard, Siberia. I am reposting it here (Figure 19):
The one on the far right is me. The picture was used as definitive, "smoking gun" evidence of a connection between FECRIS, or at least me, and the Russian regime. Indeed, the second from the left is Alexander Dvorkin, a Russian anti-cult activist close to the Orthodox Church (and the one in the centre is, of course, an Orthodox bishop). The now iconic image has served its purpose on the main websites of anti-cult movement opponents and has enjoyed an honourable career spanning many years. It even enjoyed the honour of being presented as part of a scholarly dissertation at the international congress of the famous Centre for the Study of New Religions (CESNUR). An example of high conceptual elaboration and rare scholarly rigour was the speaker's comment: "I was told that this person - she was referring to me - is strongly atheistic - who told her that? - but you can see he has no problem hanging around with clergy." Indeed, the bishop at the centre was not exactly incognito. You can see the irrefutable argument in Video 1 (further down in the text).
Video 1 - Rosita Soryté Caught the author of this report in awkward company
The refined scholar who presented this sophisticated argument at the CESNUR international congress is Rosita Soryté, the wife of CESNUR director Introvigne and a member of the scientific committee of the FOB federation mentioned above.
The image was even quoted by Massimo Introvigne himself in an article in Russian, in which the scholar claims to have seen a picture in which I, a so worldly person, appeared "almost overwhelmed by priests" (the gentleman with the beard next to me is a Lutheran pastor). The director of CESNUR of this blessed image has made it a highlight of his repertoire for years. In the photo below, for example, he illustrates the image at the 2018 American Academy of Religion conference in Denver (Figure 20).
The photo has since also appeared in such unlikely circles as a book on the Covid 19 pandemic published by the All Faith Network (but now we know what it is. It is the photo on p. 25 that I alluded to above). The photo later appeared several times in the magazine Bitter Winter, published by CESNUR, once even with a funny but sibylline caption that read "Luigi Corvaglia on the far right (which is not his political position)."
However, the most incredible of the reuse of this photo, took place in The European Times, an obscure online newspaper which claimed that the anti-cult movement was responsible for the anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia and, therefore, morally co-responsible for the ongoing war (!).
The author of this and other articles in that magazine is a certain Jan Leonid Bornestein, of whom there is no trace on the Web. His only available photo, entered into the prompt on the Facecheck.id website, an identity verification tool using facial recognition, returned zero results. It cannot be ruled out that this person does not exist and that the photo is an artificial intelligence achievement.
"The European Times" is a strange publication registered in Spain but whose editor is a Bulgarian, a certain Petar Gramatikov. He claims to be a hierodacon of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, although his ordination took place in violation of the canons (he has been married and divorced several times, which makes him ineligible for ordination). In any case, he was ordained by the Metropolitan of Tyrnovo, even though he lives in Plovdiv. So, in all likehood, his diaconate and monasticism are simply decorative. The only things that are certain are that he publishes the newspaper of a wellness center, the Orpheus Club Wellnes, in Plovdiv, and that he has a very good relationship with Scientology, as evidenced by his presence at the 46th anniversary celebration of the founding of the organization's Belgian headquarters. The photo below shows him in the centre during said celebration.
The one on the far right (whether this corresponds to his political faith is not known) is Ivan Arjona Pelado, one of the leading representatives of Scientology and a component of church’s secret service. Tout se tien.
In October 2024, the French investigative newspaper 'Blast' published a dossier revealing that The European Times is part of an international Media Center called Brussels Media, whose executive director, Lahcen Hammouch, is very close to Scientology. Incidentally, the contact address of The European Times is that of a satellite association of Scientology in Spain, the Fundazion para la Mejora de la Vida, la Cultura y la Sociedad, whose director is that Ivan A. Pelado who can be seen on the far right of the previous photo (fig. 21).
The Blast article also publishes a photo taken in the European Parliament on November 30, 2023 showing an interesting clique that includes Pelado, curiously always last on the right of the picture, the aforementioned Eric Roux, Scientology's highest rapresentative and FOB federation member, in the centre, and Brussels Media director Lahcen Hammouch, second from the left (fig. 22).
Then, there is no doubt about the link between The European Times, Scientology and associations defending "religious freedom," such as FOB and others, like Human Rights Without Frontiers, whose director is Willy Fautré, first from the left in photo 22, or the Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC), whose vice-president Christine Mirre is third from the left in photo number 22, next to Roux.
At the end of the same month that saw the publication of the 'Blast' article on the network linking Brussels Media, Scientology and NGOs in defence of "religious freedom," my Siberian photo also returned to the limelight after a brief period of eclipse. The reason for this was that the Ukrainian parareligious cult AllatRa had not liked my statement to a collective of investigative journalists that their movement was a conspiracy theory with obscure origins and that it exhibited pro-Putin rhetoric. An incredible smear campaign followed in which various AllatRa "trolls" accused me, not them, of being a "Russian agent" or an "agent of the Russian Orthodox Church." That photo helped (see Figure 23). The arguments used against the anti-cult movement, taken evenly from Bitter Winter's publications, also served them well.
Apart from that, there seems to be no doubt about AllatRa's pro-Russian political goals, as several journalistic investigations have also shown. In early November 2024, Ukrainian security services even raided around 20 cult’s headquarters , confiscating material that confirmed the findings of investigations into the cult's "subversive activities on behalf of the Russian Federation." Strangely enough, the only expert from outside the organisation who was willing to be interviewed for Movement TV about the alleged persecution of AllatRa and other cults was an FOB member, and not just any FOB member, but top Scientologist Fabrizio D'Agostini. I thought I understood that I was the friend of the Russians and that FOB stood for democracy and freedom instead. Evidently there is something wrong with this representation.
This introduction has thus enabled the reader to familiarise themselves with the actors (CESNUR, Scientology, FOB, USCIRF, etc.), to get an idea of their relationships with each other and their modus operandi, and to learn how the author uses open resources to investigate the network of "cult apologists"." The reader can now immerse themselves in the neat treatment of the history, ideological framework and geopolitical context in which the hybrid warfare operations we have just discussed are embedded.
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