CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL’S FREEDOM MAGAZINE HONORED WITH AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

The awards ceremony was a highlight of the RCC’s annual convention, which concluded last weekend in Dallas-Fort Worth. The RCC, an international interfaith association of religion communications and public relations professionals, recognized Freedom’s online report as “an important and moving investigative piece reporting on the inhumane treatment of orphans in Quebec.”

The award-winning article, co-authored by Freedom Senior Editor Thomas G. Whittle and investigative writer Christine Hahn, exposed abuses on a massive scale against innocent children during the mid-20th century reign of Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis. The fraudulent labeling of the orphans as “mentally ill” or “retarded” opened the door to a battery of psychiatric brutalities, including lobotomies, electro-shock and the massive administration of brain-damaging drugs. The article reveals that up 50,000 innocent children may have died or disappeared in Quebec’s psychiatric institutions as a result of the false labeling and subsequent abuses.

Survivors and human rights advocates are today calling for justice for the Orphans, which includes the rescinding of, and compensation for, the false and malicious labels placed on them for life.

Established in 1968, Freedom has, over the decades, won many awards for its investigative reporting and journalistic excellence. It is published by the Church of Scientology International, the mother church of the Scientology religion, http://www.scientologyreligion.org, based in Los Angeles. Founded by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, http://www.aboutlronhubbard.org, the religion has grown from one church in 1954 to more than 6,000 churches, missions and groups in 154 countries today.

In addition to the flagship U.S. magazine, Freedom is published in 21 editions in 11 languages and has won numerous journalism awards. Information is available online at www.freedommag.org and www.voice4freedom.net

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