MISA: A Call to the Georgian Authorities for the Release of Mihai and Adina Stoian

Eleven scholars and human right activists ask Georgia to resist the long arm of French anti-cult repression and free the two MISA leaders.

by Bitter Winter

 

Mihail and Adina Stoian in happier times.Mihai and Adina Stoian in happier times.

We, the undersigned, respectfully ask the authorities of Georgia, 

(a) to free on bail as soon as possible Mihai and Adina Stoian arrested in Georgia on August 22, 2024; 

(b) to refuse their extradition to France, based on the fact that their alleged “complicity in rape” would have been performed by “mental manipulation” and “abuse of weakness” of women they allegedly persuaded to embrace the beliefs of the Romanian yoga group MISA anchored in foreign philosophies and have private meetings with MISA’s founder;

considering 

  • that “mental manipulation” and “abuse of weakness” are imaginary crimes and are therefore not part of international law 
  • that they are defined as crimes in France but not in most other democratic countries
  • that the Stoians’ case is a by-product of the prosecution of MISA’s founder Gregorian Bivolaru, who is currently in jail in France with several co-workers.

We are scholars in religious studies and new religious movements and human rights defenders with different levels of knowledge of MISA. Some of us personally know the Stoians and appreciate inter alia Mihai Stoian’s work through the NGO Soteria International in favor of freedom of religion or belief for all. 

 

CONTEXT

The arrest

On August 22, 2024, Mihai and Adina Stoian, two yoga teachers of MISA, the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute, were arrested on the basis of French arrest warrants when they entered Georgia, as part of a tourist trip, through the border with Türkiye at Sarpi.

MISA yoga school

MISA, the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute, is a large new religious movement founded in Romania in 1990 by Gregorian Bivolaru. Its path encompasses a large variety of matters, from postural yoga to meditation and the visual arts but what has led to controversy is its teachings on sacred eroticism, based on Indian Tantra. 

Gregorian Bivolaru.Gregorian Bivolaru.

Debunking the arguments of “brainwashing,” “abuse of weakness,” or “psychological subjection”

Those who oppose religious or belief minorities with controversial teachings calling them “cults” (part of the so-called “anti-cult movement”) claim that no reasonable woman (or man) would freely accept such strange doctrines. Therefore, it is claimed, members of these groups should be the victim of “brainwashing,” “abuse of weakness,” or “psychological subjection.”

The position that “cults” are inherently different from real religions and use “brainwashing” has been rejected 

  • by academic scholars of new religious movements 
  • by courts of law in the United States and in other countries, 
  • by the European Court of Human Rights. 

France’s tradition of secularism and hostility to religions

In general, France has a tradition of secularism and hostility to religions. Differently from most other democratic countries, it has however embraced the ideology of the anti-cult movement and legislated against “abuse of weakness” or “psychological subjection” allegedly used by “cults.” These are crimes in France (but not in most other democratic countries), while most academic scholars of new religious movements regard them as imaginary torts based on the discredited pseudo-scientific notion of “brainwashing.”

Accusations against “cults” are often supported by the testimonies of “apostate” ex-members. “Apostate” is not an insult, but a technical term used by sociologists to designate the minority of ex-members who, for different reasons, turn into militant opponents of the groups they have left and support the anti-cult movements. A significant academic literature demonstrates that only a tiny minority of ex-members even of the most controversial groups become “apostates.”

The Sarpi border between Türkiye and Georgia where the Stoians were arrested. Credits.The Sarpi border between Türkiye and Georgia where the Stoians were arrested. Credits.

The arrest of Mihai and Adina Stoian, a by-product of the Bivolaru case

MISA has been accused of being a “cult” and its founder Gregorian Bivolaru of using “brainwashing” in different countries. Courts of law, however, have ruled in favor of MISA and Bivolaru in most of the cases that reached a trial. 

Bivolaru has been sentenced only once, in Romania, for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student (the age of consent in Romania was 15 but the law punished relationships between teachers and students). That the prosecution of Bivolaru in this case was biased was acknowledged by the Swedish Supreme Court who denied extradition from Sweden to Romania in 2005, which led to Bivolaru being granted asylum in Sweden. The young student has consistently denied that she had a sexual relationship with Bivolaru to this very day. 

Bivolaru has a pending case in Finland, for which an international arrest warrant was issued, and one in France, where he was arrested in November 2023. Based on the testimonies of seven “apostate” ex-members, some of whose alleged experiences dating back to over 10 years ago, Bivolaru and other MISA leaders are accused of having induced through “brainwashing” female students from foreign countries (including Finland) to go to France, where some of them went through sacred eroticism rituals with Bivolaru. Now, they allege they were not really consensual because of the previous “brainwashing.” 

The French massive raids in November 2023

In the raids of November 2023, the French police and prosecutors reported that they had “rescued” more than 50 women (none of them French) that were “kept” in various locations by MISA in France and they said they would be “raped” by Bivolaru. Eight months have passed since the raids, and not even one of the women supposedly “rescued” has accepted to identify herself as a “victim.” All insist that they were in France out of their free will. Some of them have sued the French police alleging mistreatment. 

Conflict of narratives

There is thus a conflict of narratives. 

On the one hand, seven “apostate” ex-members reconstruct their very old experiences in France—many months or years before the November 2023 police operation—as sexual abuse they did not resist because they were “brainwashed.” On the other hand, more than fifty students unanimously claim they are not “victims” but have willingly embraced a non-conventional spiritual path. 

Distinguished scholars, including Canadian academic Susan Palmer, a specialist of both new religious movements and abuse of women in religious contexts, have interviewed some of the women “rescued” in 2023 and who deny being victims, and found them well-adjusted and believable witnesses. 

The fragile pillars of the French case

The French case thus rests on 

(a) discredited theories of “brainwashing” rejected by academic scholars and by courts of law almost everywhere in democratic countries except France; 

(b) the post factum reconstruction of their experiences of MISA and Bivolaru of seven apostate ex-members who have a personal vendetta against the movement (some have tried to form rival schools in competition with MISA and others have claimed exorbitant damages through civil cases).

This is contradicted by the position of all the women who were in France during the November 2023 raids. 

Georgian media coverage of the arrest of the Stoians. Screenshot.Georgian media coverage of the arrest of the Stoians. Screenshot.

Mihai and Adina Stoian as collateral damages of the Bivolaru case

Since some of the “apostates” have repeatedly stated that their aim is to destroy MISA as a spiritual movement and put an end to its activities, it is not surprising that they also accuse the senior students leading the movement in absence of Bivolaru, including Mihai Stoian and his wife Adina. 

They are also accused of “abuse of weakness” and “psychological subjection,” i.e., “brainwashing,” and of “complicity in rape” for having allegedly induced women to participate to retreats and rituals in France, where some of them might have been “raped” by Bivolaru.

Whatever the real involvement of the Stoians in these trips to France, it is essential to reiterate that these accusations only come from seven disgruntled “apostates” who left the movement years ago.

Moreover, more than fifty women who were found by the police at MISA locations in France in November 2023 all stated that they went there freely and were happy to participate in MISA activities and (for some of them) Tantric rituals as part of their unusual (but not illegal) spiritual path that they have freely chosen. 

“Complicity in rape” sounds like a horrific crime but what all the Stoians are accused of is 

  • to have taught MISA yoga (which they of course admit) and
  • to have proposed to some students trips to France for meeting Bivolaru, allegedly placing them at risk of being raped by him (which they deny). 

The Mihai and Adina case is not an ordinary case of sexual abuse

It is important that Georgian authorities realize that this is not an “ordinary” case of sexual abuse of rape. 

It is about rituals involving sacred eroticism practices freely chosen by the overwhelming majority of MISA students after being well informed about them. 

However, a few apostates, the French anti-cult state agency MIVILUDES, and the French prosecutors qualify them as pretexts for abuse. 

Mihail and Adina Stoian during a retreat.Mihai and Adina Stoian during a retreat.

The Stoians are clearly “not dangerous.” 

Even if one admits (but we don’t) that they suggested to women to meet Bivolaru, exposing them to harm as he might rape them, Bivolaru is now in jail and thus the risk no longer exists. 

Given the official campaigns against “cults” in general, and MISA in particular in France, not to mention the position of the media, it is virtually impossible that, if extradited there Mihai and Adina Stoian will have a fair trial respectful of their human rights and freedom of religion or belief. 

As a consequence, there is no reason to keep the Stoians in jail pending decision on their extradition from Georgia to France.

Signatories

Alessandro AMICARELLI, Chairman of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB).

Luigi BERZANO, Professor, University of Turin (Italy)

Raffaella DI MARZIO, Director of The Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Conscience (Italy)

Willy FAUTRÉ, Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (Brussels)

Holly FOLK, Professor, Western Washington University, Bellingham (USA)

Massimo INTROVIGNE, Co-founder and Managing Director of the Center for Studies on New Religions, CESNUR (Italy)

Camelia MARIN, Deputy director of SOTERIA International (Denmark)

Hans NOOT, Director of the Noodt Foundation (Netherlands)

Susan J. PALMER, Professor, Concordia University, Montreal QC (Canada)

Rosita ŠORYTĖ, President of the International Observatory of Religious Liberty of Refugees

Thierry VALLE, President of CAP/ Liberté de Conscience, UN ECOSOC accredited (Paris)