Raelian Movement Critic Silenced

LAS VEGAS, May 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is issued by The
United States Raelian Movement:

One of the Raelian Movement's most outspoken U.S. critics, Joseph McGowen, has
just settled out of court for undisclosed damages, which include a
non-disparagement order that he may never speak about the Raelian Movement
again.

McGowen was the partner of Abdullah Hashem, the Indiana University - Purdue
University Indianapolis (IUPUI) film student who made a documentary about the
Movement after infiltrating an annual seminar in Las Vegas in 2005.

The Raelian Movement filed federal racketeering charges against Hashem and
McGowen following years of alleged lies and totally unfounded criticism.

"We very much support people's rights to their opinions -- but we'll never
tolerate lies, or spreading or repeating false rumors about us," said Ricky
Roehr, the Movement's North American president. "When McGowen was welcomed at
our seminar, he signed an agreement stating that all film footage recorded
during the seminar belonged to the Movement. Despite this agreement, he not
only tried to use and sell the footage but told the media many untrue, hurtful
things about Rael, the Movement and its members. As a result, he was
eventually sued in federal court and settled with us after admitting he really
knew nothing about us. If he speaks ill about the Raelian Movement or its
members again in the future, there will be severe consequences under the terms
of the settlement. This should be an abject lesson about the dangers of
irresponsible journalism."

Roehr added, "After claiming to be working on an objective documentary about
the Movement, Hashem and McGowen either fabricated or grossly exaggerated our
position on almost every issue in most of their interviews from the seminar
they were invited to.

They then tried to sell our film footage for $1 million, and when no one
bought it, they debuted the film at IUPUI to generate attention and attract
investors. So-called 'journalists' like these have damaged the lives and
reputations of many people, religions and races throughout history. We will
always not only denounce such efforts but defend ourselves against them to the
full extent of the law."

McGowen's settlement follows only days after a Canadian court ruled harshly
against other journalists who claimed to have infiltrated a Raelian seminar in
Canada in 2003.

Hearings concerning Hashem will resume June 26 in a California Federal Court.

SOURCE The United States Raelian Movement

Panteha Naghi, The United States Raelian Movement, +1-702-513-2387,
usa@raelpress.org