'Alien' Cult Leader Held on Sex Charges
By Alexandra Taranova
A self-proclaimed alien from the star Sirius has been arrested in Novosibirsk on charges of organizing a nationwide totalitarian sect that brainwashed and sexually abused members, police said Tuesday.
A local court on Saturday approved the arrest of Konstantin Rudnev, 43, leader of the Ashram Shambala religious group, a Novosibirsk police spokeswoman said by phone.
Rudnev was detained in a cottage owned by the group in Novosibirsk on Sept. 30 along with 38 followers, all citizens of Russia and Ukraine. Among them were four teenage girls whose parents had reported them as missing, police said in a statement.
A package containing 4 grams of heroin was found in the pocket of Rudnev's shirt, the statement said.
Ashram Shambala, established more than 20 years ago, grew into a powerful cult with branches in many cities across Russia in the late 1990s, the local branch of the Investigative Committee said in a statement posted on its web site Tuesday.
Rudnev, who claimed to be an alien sent to Earth to enlighten mankind, combined Oriental esoterica and the writings of Carlos Castaneda with elements of yoga and shamanism in his teaching, investigators said. The group also offered yoga courses and self-help camps that attracted thousands of people.
Most of the group's members were young people aged 17 to 30 who were forced to leave home, friends and families under psychological and emotional pressure, investigators said.
Members were forced to turn over their property to Rudnev, and young female members had to participate in regular sexual orgies with him and other senior members, investigators said.
Law enforcement officers have spent 11 years attempting to bring Rudnev to court, but the previous three cases opened against him — in 1999, 2004 and 2008 — were closed because Ashram Shambala members refused to testify.
If convicted on charges of rape, sexual abuse and human rights violations, Rudnev faces up to 15 years in prison. Police are still considering whether to add heroin charges to the list.
This article was found at:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/alien-cult-leader-held-on-sex-charges/418507.html
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RIA Novosti - Russia October 6, 2010
Head of religious sect arrested in Siberia
Nikolai Rudnev, the head of the religious sect Ashram Shambala
The head of the religious sect Ashram Shambala has been arrested in the West Siberian city of Novosibirsk, the NTV channel said on Tuesday.
Nikolai Rudnev, 43, who reportedly calls himself "a being from Sirius", was arrested on rape charges after two former female members of the cult testified against him.
He has also been charged with forming a sect and violating the human rights of his followers.
Ashram Shambala is a mix of Buddhism, Shamanism, occultism and Christianity. It recruited mainly women, who gave all their money to the guru, cut contacts with relatives and moved to an isolated area to be closer to Rudnev, NTV said.
Police said that in 1999 the sect had several regional branches across Russia and about 10,000 followers. The current number of its members is unknown.
An expert on sects from Alexander Nevsky's Novosibirsk cathedral, Oleg Zayev, says the arrest of the leader would not mean the destruction of Ashram Shambala.
"These destructive cults can be compared with an epidemic," Zayev said.
This article was found at:
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101006/160852166.html
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Siberian cult leader who claimed he was alien god from the star Sirius jailed for ritual rape of dozens of disciples
ReplyDeleteBy WILL STEWART UK Daily Mail February 7, 2013
A Russian cult leader has been jailed for 11 years for raping and sexually assaulting his followers.
Konstantin Rudnev, 45, forced his disciples to take part in orgies, occultism, and drug-trafficking, a court in Novosibirsk, Siberia heard.
Former Red Army conscript Rudnev, a self-proclaimed alien god from the star Sirius, demanded blind submission from his followers mainly aged between 14 and 30.
‘Rudnev's cult members often lost their money and property and abandoned their relatives and friends, and many of them were reported missing,’ reported the Siberian Times.
‘After joining up, females were forced to take part in ‘ritual rapes’ and orgies with Rudnov and other cult leaders, the court was told.’
One mother told how her son took up yoga classes with the sect - called Ashram Shambala - when he was 15, and three years later vanished after joining his 30,000 followers.
More than a dozen followers gave evidence against Rudnev and shocking videos were also found showing how some Ashram Shambala followers were subjected to violence and sexual abuse.
Media reports suggest some victims were under age.
His sect was set up before the collapse of the USSR but earlier attempts to convict him over a 12 year period had failed because his ‘victims’ refused to testify against him in court, said prosecutors who had sought a 15 year sentence.
Rudnev claims to his followers that he was sent to Earth to enlighten mankind, drawing up his own bizarre teachings called ‘The Way of a Fool’ which mocked traditional views of family life, study and work.
He was also convicted of creating a religious organisation infringing on people's personalities and rights.
The sect was lucrative and he became a multi-millionaire, preying on the vulnerable in a country undergoing massive transformations after the collapse of Soviet rule.
He ran yoga seminars to lure young people who then disowned their families and gave their life savings and property to his Ashram Shambala sect.
According to him, his eccentric ’teachings’ took elements from the Bible, the Koran, Karmasutra, shamanism, paganism and tantric sex.
Prosecutors alleged his methods were sinister and involved the brainwashing of vulnerable people.
When he was arrested some 15 people - including a 14 year girl from Belarus - were on police search lists after being reported missing by relatives.
Rudnev's lawyer Alexander Nizhinsky said: ‘We think the verdict announced today was not very objective.’
In 2004, a psychological commission found him criminally insane and he was placed in a mental hospital, but later escaped.
see photos at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2274974/Siberian-cult-leader-claimed-alien-god-star-Sirius-jailed-ritual-rape-dozens-disciples.html