The Provincial Prosecutor for Granada took an unprecedented step within the whole of Spain by opening proceedings against a Hindu-style guru for allegedly “subjecting 20 people to sectarian brainwashing.”

Antonio Javier Ruiz Plazas, has been practising as a guru, running a temple dedicated to prayer and yoga in Armilla (just outside the city of Granada). According to the P.P.C., Holy Tony had been using personality-suppressing techniques on his disciples – mainly women – to obtain financial benefit and sexual favours.
Things started to go wobbly for the guru back in June of last year when family members of victims brought the affair to the press, which in turn led to an investigation process by the provincial ombudsman, and finally landed on the desk of the P.C.C.
The Fisco (Spanish abbreviation for Fiscal; i.e. Public Prosecutor) decided to charge under Article 515 of the Penal Law Code: “Illicit associations are punishable (…) that, although they have a legal objective, use violent methods or alteration or personality control for its consecution.”
There have been condemnatory sentences made before, against terrorist or neo-Nazi organisations; however, these sentences have not been based on last clause (alteration of personality). Associations that have been working against religious sects have been crying out for the judicial authorities to use Article 515, but to date nobody had done it.
According to the Fisco’s report, the guru subjected his disciples to insufficient diets and only four hours sleep to break them down. These debilitating measures, together with having to attend obligatory religious monologues lasting up to eight hours in one go, soon achieve a state of mental exhaustion within his alleged victims. Once that was obtained most of the women – many of whom had attended because of family or psychological problems – were talked into taking part in sexual acts as part of their ‘therapy’ and making monetary transfers in his favour.