Collective cult massacres are still a possibility in Switzerland
Parallels between mass suicide in Montreux and OTS tragedy
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Listening: Collective cult massacres are still a possibility in Switzerland
A cult-linked massacre like that of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) 30 years ago could happen again in Switzerland, warns the director of the Inter-cantonal Center for Information on Beliefs (CIC).
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Parallèle entre le suicide collectif à Montreux et drame de l’OTS
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On the night of October 4 to 5, 1994, 25 members of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) were poisoned and burnt to death in Salvan in canton Valais, 23 suffocated or were riddled with bullets in Cheiry in canton Fribourg and five killed in Quebec.
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The 1994 Solar Temple cult deaths in Switzerland
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Solar Temple gained worldwide notoriety between September 1994 and March 1997 when the burnt bodies of 74 of its members were found in Switzerland, Canada and then France. On October 5, 1994, 23 bodies were discovered in a burnt-out farm in canton Fribourg. Another 25 bodies were found in canton Valais. Several had been shot…
A family tragedy in Montreux in 2022 is proof that the same could happen again, according to Manéli Farahmand. On March 24, 2022, five members of the same family threw themselves off their balcony. Only the son survived. The criminal investigation concluded that it was a premeditated collective suicide.
“Although on a smaller scale […] we can make a link with the OTS case,” explains Farahmand in an interview published in Le Matin Dimanche.
“In both cases, survivalist convictions turned into apocalyptic visions, with the evocation of a ‘passage’ to another dimension to escape the irreversible degradation of the planet,” says Farahmand.
Farahmand points out that inquiries to the CIC mainly concern Christianity, in particular evangelical circles, new spiritualities or alternative therapies. “In comparison, Islam, as well as Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish traditions, account for only around 7% of annual requests”.
Adapted from French by DeepL/ac
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