Cult member to face trial over deaths of followers

Police found the bodies of 23 cult members at a farm in Chiery, canton Fribourg, in 1994 Keystone Archive

A former Geneva orchestra conductor, Michel Tabachnik, is to stand trial on Tuesday in France for his alleged involvement in the deaths of 16 members of the Solar Temple cult near Grenoble in 1995. The cult was also responsible for the deaths of 48 followers in Switzerland.

The trial is the first time that someone affiliated to the apocalyptic group is to face a court. The former musical conductor of Swiss-French origin is accused of being a member of a criminal organisation, linked to the deaths of 16 people near Grenoble.

A French inquiry found that 14 followers had been shot by two cult members – a Swiss architect and a French policeman – who then killed themselves.

Tabachnik’s precise role in the killings has never been determined, but the French authorities accuse him of spreading the cult’s doctrine and of inspiring “suicidal tendencies” among the cult’s followers.

In an exclusive interview with Swissinfo, Tabachnik spoke out about the forthcoming trial and his innocence.

When asked if he would actually attend the hearing, he said, “I’m undecided, I’ll make a decision at the last minute. You’ll remember Judge Piller who resided over the intial inquiry, well he said there were no grounds to prosecute me. So why does the matter have to be dragged up again? What I’m being exposed to is completely unfair. Why should I bend to this sort of justice? Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m being turned into a scapegoat.”

Tabachnik’s first wife, Christine, was involved with the sect and she was one of the victims of the 1995 incident. When asked if he was involved in tragedy he said, “I promise you I had nothing at all to do with what happened. Do you really think I would organise the death of the mother of my children?”

” I must also point out that my apartment in Territet, where my children were sleeping, should have been blown up as the apartment below was booby-trapped. How could I be involved in such a deplorable plan, which would have resulted in the deaths of my two children? All of these facts, which support my plea, have been hidden.

” In the whole of the prosecutor’s 450 page report there were only ten which mentioned me.”

On the question of whether he was a member of the Solar Temple sect, Tabachnik said, “Formally, I was not a member. It is true that at the beginning of the nineties I did take part in some of their activities. My wife, Christine, introduced me to the sect’s leader, Joseph Di Mambro. I thought he was someone I could talk to about my problems. At that time, the Golden Way Foundation was run like a survival group. Di Mambro was obsessed with survival and yet it was him who caused the massacre.”

“…to me, Di Mambro was a friend but he betrayed me. I don’t understand why I am being persecuted for this. It’s like the Middle Ages all over again with the Spanish Inquisition!”

Mass killings

The Solar Temple cult was responsible for the deaths of 74 of its followers in the mid-1990s. In October 1994, 48 people in Switzerland were murdered or killed themselves in the belief that they would be transferred to another planet. A further five died in Canada.

Twenty-five died at the ski resort of Granges-sur-Salvan in canton Valais, while another 23 perished in the village of Chiery in canton Fribourg. Some had been shot in the head several times.

The Swiss and Canadian authorities closed their investigations without bringing anyone to trial because the cult’s founders – Joseph di Mambro and Luc Jouret – were among those found dead in three burned-out chalets in Valais.

The Geneva lawyer who represented the families of the Swiss victims, Jacques Barillon, has called for Tabachnik to appear in court in Grenoble and explain his affiliation with the cult. Under French law, Tabachnik is not obliged to attend the hearing, and is expected to stay away.

Barillon added that many questions relating to the Swiss tragedy remained unresolved because the original investigation was hindered by a lack of concrete evidence, much of which was destroyed.

swissinfo with agencies