What the JuST Group working committee wrote on saiguru.net in 2004 confronting Moreno's position is still entirely valid, despite all his excuses and denials:-
Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization
See also Devotee attacks on the Sai petition and petitioners
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| Though the Sai Petition suffered a breakdown due to excessive (pro-Sai) spammers and saboteurs during its first year on-line when it was on an unprotected free petition website, the valid signatures were recovered from files held by those who administered the petition at that time. They appear as the lower entries on this page. The Public Petition administrators had, after much discussion,. agreed to remove spam entries which had been posted in considerable numbers. This they did for some weeks, until their system was somehow overloaded and the entire set of entries disappeared. After much difficult negotiation,. the Public Petition administrator agreed with the petition administration of Arthur Klein to reinstate the valid signatures from back-up files. The JuST group decided they could not reply on the on-line petition providers and asked for a new website to be made. Not long after that, a new and secure website was started for the petition under the same domain name saipetition.net, with security measures which ensure that spammers cannot disrupt the petition or post from bogus IPs and locations. These measures are not detailed here since spammers (such as the only very vocal critic and saboteur of the petition, Gerald Moreno) might find it possible to subvert them, since no on-line petition is 100% safe against criminal attacks. The new administrator of the petition was chosen, Robert Priddy, who has since been relieved for some periods of time by others. The International Sathya Sai Organization was defended through an extensive attack on our petition - originally through sabotage attempts by posting bogus names, and subsequently by a massive on-line campaign run by Gerald Joe Moreno in which he claimed critically to analyze the petition and that it is 'not legal'. Despite that, he was unable to challenge its legality through any due process and its authenticity remains as is and the integrity of its many supporters and signers remains intact. The extent of his on-line attacks on signers of the petition has to be tracked to be believed! Many of those who have signed here have been devotees of Sathya Sai Baba, and many of those have been Sathya Sai Organization members, including a large number of office-bearers. Several were original founder members of major Sai centers. Some of the original participators in the development of the petition were the JuST Group and others who were prominent leaders are listed first at the top here. Further down are some of the sex abuse claims made on the petition:- |
Glen Meloy, USA. -- Member for 26 years. Member of 1st Advisory Board of the SSB Society for USA. Co-Manager, Sathya Sai Book Center of America in 1974-5.
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SIGNERS OF THE PETITION CALLING FOR SATHYA SAI BABA TO BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE
Some of the more than 1600-plus petition signers who have included details of their years of involvement as followers. The real figure is evidently far higher than this 'tip of the iceberg'. The great majority who have lost faith in Sai Baba's claims or have ceased to follow him no doubt do not sign the petition for a number of reasons. These include: 1) They do not have the Internet., 2) They did not find the petition on the Internet 3) They do not wish their former allegiance to become known for many personal and other reasons (such as employment problems, work prospects, so as not to offend others among their family, friends and contacts who remain believers, worries about obtaining travel visas to India, avoidance of further publication of their names due to web stalking, identity theft and outright harassment.
Arti Solanki, USA -- follower: 1995-2005 |
Atul Menon, India -- follower: 1993-2006 position in Sai Org. - lawyer |
Signers of the petition who were - or knew someone who was - sexually abused by Sathya Sai Baba
| Paul Throne, USA — Follower 1988-2000 S.S.Org: Center education coordinator: Have been to see SB 4 times, 1990, 1994, 1995-96 and 1999. Despite many positive experiences, I believe too many credible accounts of abuse now exist to pretend it isn’t real, including a young male friend of mine who told me SB fondled him. More frightening to me than the megalomaniac SB is his organization and its leaders. When the leaders refuse to hear these concerns or allow discussion of these events, it has become a complete mind-control cult. John Purnell, Australia — Follower 1987-1994 also sexually abused by that fraud. he must be exposed Michael Smith, USA — . I am a sexual abuse victim advocate: friends of mine have been sexually abused by Baba Pierre Stahre — Sweden. Follower: 1990-2000 – only know swedish male friends that was severely molested sexually by Sai Baba for many years. David Juliano — USA . abused by Sai Baba in 1974 Marcus Martenson, — Sweden . A guy I know was sexual abused by Sai Baba Juan de Dios Suarez — Venezuela Follower 6 years I know of two Venezuelans who were sexually abused by the False Teacher [Conozco de dos Venezolanos que fueron abusados Sexualmente por el Falso Maestro] Kyra Kitts — USA “I found out directly a year or so later from a friend in my local center that he’d been sexually molested by SB in his teens several times” (http://exbaba.com/articles/kyraboy.html) Rosalia Malagelada de Neves — Venezuela. Follower: 1988 until 2001 Position in S.S.Org: Venezuela Comite I knew the two cases very close of abuse Sandeep Shanbhag — India January 13. 2008. I have heard from my OWN friend that he was studying in Whitefield and his friend was molested by Sai Baba. it is high time that is man gets investigated and arrested…. [ADMIN NOTE: This student's details, kept confidential, have been verified] Anonymous ex-Student — India [ADMIN NOTE: This student's details, kept confidential, have been verified] January 1. 2008. Follower: birth-not sure when the deception hit me. I am an ex-student who knows that what is alleged is true. From friends who were abused, and from being part of the culture which has denial written all over it. I personally had a “touch and feel” experience by Sai Baba, who massaged my genital area through my clothes with his legs for 10 minutes in a bhajan session in everyone’s presence – I understood later I was being “trialled”. Luckily, I did not “rise” to the occasion, and was deemed “unsuitable”. I chose to be anonymous because I have good friends who I would lose – I am sorry but I am being selfish – for me, the friends matter more than exposing Sai Baba. I will work very hard to ensure no one else is harmed, but in my own quiet way. Ramesh — USA Student 1992-2000 I am an ex school student who was ‘Molested’ Please bring this mad man to justice!!!! [ADMIN NOTE: This Indian student's details, kept confidential, have been verified] Salim Delgado — Argentina February 1. 2005. student. He tried to murder my childhood friend. I know the terrible reality behind this horrendous man who has blinded many people thought out the world. I appreciate your action for crying out the truth. Please go ahead, you don’t know how much good you make!!! Jenni Oliver — Australia I have known members who became seriously disturbed after their involvement Shyam Manisastry –USA Our family personally know one Indian boy who was sexually by this “Sathya Sai baba” without satyam and that boy’s own parents did not believe him. He ended up confiding the truth to his friend. Pedophiles like baba should be banned and they should face similar legal charges like anyone. Subramanian Ganesan — USA August 4. 2004. Hari Dev Gautam — India . Ex Sai Baba. I was Sai Baba Religious Devotee and became a victim very nearly. But I figure out before happening to me. Alexis Hildebrandt — Germany Follower from birth 1987-2002. I lived in India for nine years and heard many personal accounts- there is no doubt about the truth of the allegations. Susan Greeley — USA. Never a follower: As a therapist that has spent 15 years treating sexual abuse victims, I am so shocked that my mother is a devotee of this man. This is the first I’ve heard about these issues that have been around for decades. My mother, a woman in her early 60s, went to see Sai Baba about 7 years ago. She came back and set up shrines in her home , but she wouldn’t discuss her trip in any detail. She’s been involved with a group in Atlanta, Georgia. Her personality has really changed in the past 7 years. She appears more paranoid and depressed. Mhairi Fox — United Kingdom I’ve been aware of Sai Baba for the last twenty-three years, and was a follower for some of that time. Back in 2000 I spent three months at the ashram. I had two group interviews but never felt anything truly spiritual in Sai Baba’s presence, only unease. Now I know why. I met many good and true spiritual seekers during my time in India, they were inspiring company and I am worried and furious for them. I lost my closest friend over this whole thing, she was the one who first alerted me to the abuse, cover-ups and dirty tricks perpetrated by Sai Baba and some of his followers. Since then I have continued to read about what’s happening, and I’ve continued to be shocked, saddened and angered. Sai Baba is a sick and dangerous man who should be brought to justice now and locked up before he can do any more damage. The lesson I’ve learned from this whole mess — I have no need of self proclaimed avatars and gurus, God is within. God is everything. |
Gerald Joe Moreno (deceased 2010) admitted that he set out to sabotage the petition by posting a fake name, Joe Apodaco, and he also claimed he posted numerous other fake names too. Some of the names he claimed were bogus he no longer mentions, yet he persists to claim he posted names (which - incidentally - no longer appear on the Sai Petition). His claims show to what lengths he wouldl go to try to deceive the public and, through dirty tricks, try to cast doubts on the signatures of those many hundreds who have stated that they have left Sathya Sai Baba. Likewise, very many more signers comment against Sai Baba, some express disgust at what they know about the activities of this God-guru, some mentions the many negative effects on families and friends known to them. When the petition was having problems with spammers, including Moreno's sabotage attempts, I was not administering it, nor did I care to read his many postings in that period, so his accusations against me personally in this are false. That the names remained there for some time after I took over checking the signatures is no proof of any intention to deceive the public for I never read any of the several unsolicited e-mails Moreno sent to my mailbox and I never studied his many pages where I later saw in which he exhaustively tries to throw doubt on the Sai Petition. I had long since discovered that he was a major hypocrite and character assassin, and I took a minimum of notice of him for several years while he spread his poison throughout the Internet. After posting brief initial warnings about him, I waited a very considerable time before making further statements confronting him. Only after several years did I begin to respond to some of his worst and most false accusations and depredations, since his vast efforts to deny everything practically every one of Sai Baba's dissidents and critics have written about their experiences of Sai Baba and the Sathya Sai Organization finally seemed to require debunking!
For the best part of the decade Gerald Moreno was the Sathya Sai Organization's No. 1. defender and hit man on the Internet, and a total fanatic with strong lunatic fringe tendencies and in deep denial of what he experienced. His activities kept the Sai controversy firmly in the public eye in places to which dissidents cannot reach... within the closed cult. In the public eye his postings exemplify everything that decent Sathya Sai followers are not and would never do, but at the same time shows how much hypocrisy there is throughout the leadership of the Sathya Sai Organization in that they did not act to curb him, even though challenged to do so... which would be most easy for them to do. Of course, decent followers would never dare to confront him as he would savage them too, and they would most likely be excluded from membership by their 'superiors' in the top-down Sathya Sai clandestine order of things.
Moreno made a big deal out of the fact that Al Drucker's name is listed, claiming (correctly) that he still proclaims adherence to Sai Baba. Moreno conveniently overlooks the evident fact that Alvin Drucker's name appears on the list of Ex-Office Bearers, not specifically being claimed to be an ex-follower or petition signer, and this is accurate since he was definitively banned from all Sai Baba ashrams, organizations and activities and has himself made clear that he has no association whatever with Sai Baba institutions. However, it is not claimed anywhere that he no longer feels devoted to Sathya Sai Baba. Further, one name (a Chicago coordinator) used to appear on the list of Ex-Office Bearers, which had been posted through information received, but as soon as the person named contacted me, I removed it. This should further indicate my integrity in these matters, contrary to what Moreno boldly claimed. Here is the text found on Moreno's web page to which he falsely gives the deceptive title <http://www.saisathyasai.com/baba/fake-name-cache.html> By this URL title he tries to imply that all the names on the cache are fake, while he claims only to have ever faked 5 names (some of which he craftily backed by invented negative comments about Sai Baba - i.e. unwarranted 'lies'), and none of these appear on the cached page, nor even on the Sai Petition.
What the JuST Group working committee wrote on saiguru.net in 2004 confronting Moreno's position is still entirely valid, despite all his excuses and denials:-
| OPEN LETTER FROM JuST GROUP PETITION ADMINISTRATION
TO GERALD JOE 'VISHWARUPA' MORENO (copied from http://www.saiguru.net/english/articles/132open_letter_from_just_group.htm) You are questioning the integrity of the JuST group and the hundreds who have signed their petition. We note your concerted efforts to cast slurs on members of JuST and others who call for judicial accountability of Sathya Sai Baba and his Organisation. Despite much evidence for accusations such as sex abuse, being accomplice to unsolved murder, dozens of documented lies, false materialisations, false 'omniscient' predictions, systematic rumour spreading etc, you show no concern and make no effort that these be investigated. You express no compassion for those who have suffered at his hands (i.e. for the sexually abused, for relatives who have suffered & other victims of his deceits) or through the dereliction of duty of care by his organisation. That is not the behaviour of any ‘genuine’ or ‘sincere’ truth seeker. You show far more interest in questioning the legality of the petition on all conceivable grounds than in investigating the actual facts and issues at stake. Nowhere do you show that you have investigated or questioned anything about SSB or his Organisation or received any reply from any of them. That you made zero effort to learn the other side of the matter indicates strongly that you have made up your mind about the overriding issues already. Since you claimed in an e-mail that you do not actually believe Sathya Sai Baba is God, you should at the very least be publicly questioning his continually repeated major lies to that effect. Instead you try to undermine the only people who, free of rigid Sai censorship, are asking genuine questions and reporting facts and honest accounts. In your one-sided campaign, you blow up all manner of trifling details, cast highly speculative doubts on people without having any relevant facts, even libel one sex-abused ex-devotee as ‘mentally ill’. This reminds us of Soviet techniques! However, we have looked into your criticisms and your sabotage with bogus signatures and have made some minor adjustments in routine and presentation. A response to some points you belabour may be of general interest:- A LEGAL PETITION FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS There is no contradiction, as you invalidly argue, between our asserting the full legally unchallenged legitimacy of our petition and our suggestion of testing it in court. You fail to understand that statute law and the practice of advocacy do not always agree, moreover, precedents can be created and judgements overturned. Naturally, we do not consider your website as a legally valid ‘court’ for any such purpose. Further, since international legislation on petitions hardly exists or is ratified anywhere, what is legal all depends on the nation or state and its system of law. Your talk of violations of "the Initiative and Referendum laws" is vague, highly uncertain and trivial. A law in Texas, say, can be invalid in France - or an issue may not be covered by legislation at all. Your tit-for-tat challenge to us to take legal action against you is fatuous. As and when the JuST group backs any legal actions they will be of quite another order of importance, you may rest assured. We have so far found no laws making the petition less than 100% legal, nor found that laws anywhere have been broken by it. Your attack is a red herring. YOUR CONFUSED ALLEGATIONS ABOUT ‘FREE SPEECH’ You expect the Petition to be open to you and other opponents to publish your antagonistic comments, but no petition is ever a forum for those who disagree with it. You have peculiar notions about how the freedom of expression works in a free society. You mistakenly assert that the petition maintains 'soviet-style' control over the submissions. But deletion of bogus names, unduly defamatory or pornographic content is only right, so this is done. No complaints about this have yet been registered by any responsible body, nor from any authority which has received the petition. We do not regard ourselves as accountable in detail to you, who represent only yourself (according to your website’s disclaimer). You have mostly leapt to superficial conclusions without considering alternative explanations. In a mail on your website, you liken ANY abuse of the petition by false signers (you being the prime abuser yourself) with SSB's alleged sexual abuses of many minors and young persons (which I remind you include oral sex together with vile, powerful threats by Sai Baba and anal sex, both also involving minors). This alone shows a sadly deranged sense of values and proportion, plus failed logic. Despite your brief pro forma criticism of the Sai Organisation and disclaimer, you are factually running their errand as whitewasher for them and Sai Baba. SABOTAGE BY FALSE "SUBMISSIONS" Essentially, all petitions are necessarily founded on decency and trust, which you ignore in trying to contravene it by your several bogus postings (i.e.deceits). Please refrain from further concocted "submissions”. The vast majority who choose to sign the petition are doubtless honest people, not bent on stooping to counterfeit by inventing bogus e-mail addresses, setting up false e-mail accounts, or wanting to discredit the petitioners by means fair or foul. No electronic or handwritten petition (or other public undertaking, for that matter) is 100% proof against fanatics and lawbreakers, but our site is more secure than most. We are confident that even the great majority of SSB devotees would not stoop to those dirty tricks To provide you with confidential information from signers when validating signatures, which you demand (on no authority) is wholly out of the question. We keep our guarantees of privacy to signers at whatever cost! Ask yourself why people choose to sign up, despite exposing their names to slander and threats from Sai followers and possible ridicule from associates, employers and the wide world, which will of course never regard Sai followers as anything but deluded cultists. Naturally, the desire for the truth to be investigated inspires most of them, and not the motives you slur them with. In any community, there are always only a relative few who dare speak up on such sensitive issues as here involved and against such a large, rich, and – frankly - fanatical religious sect. You constantly imply that well over 800 signatures do not represent views of real, outspoken people. Perhaps you do not realise you come across with a rather inquisitorial attitude. Many ex-devotees we know hold back from risking being compromised by admitting to have been duped so wildly. Many others we know refrain so as not to harm family and friends who are still dependents of the cult or are still in doubt. Others fear retribution, persecution in India or at home and slander and dirty tricks on the Internet. Reasons for not signing also include anxiety caused by the deep spiritual fraud of Sai Baba and the superstitions he has engendered. All the more honour to those who sign anyhow! AD FREE SPEECH: WE MOST OFTEN ANSWER EVEN HYPERCRITICAL QUERIES Different administrators during the 3 years of our operation have entries by Sai people and others who ignore netiquette and the rules of common decency. You want removed every comment which you consider to express “hate, anger and bitterness” against SSB. This censorship you demand would be draconian and judgemental, since only the signer can know if these are his/her subjective motives. You wanted nothing changed or edited out – this would presumably also mean sexually abusive comments and threats (i.e. a number have been posted by Sai disrupters, then removed)! Your ideas of free speech are in total disarray. If not holding public office, a person is under no automatic obligation to reply to anyone who asks it, let alone demands it. Nonetheless, several active members of the JuST group have sent many replies to queries of all sorts, though we found that none of them had valid grievances against the petition. As the petition’s working group, we mostly reply also to persons with grudges, each according to their approach. But there are limits of course! We have long since posted some questions and our replies here at http://saiguru.net/english/news/petitionnews.htm. Your website under your alias, 'Vishwarupa', promotes pictures of Sathya Sai Baba and not least the infamous Swami Premananda, beside pictures of Jesus Christ. Yet Premananda is a convicted double rapist and murderer serving two life sentences in India. This indicates that you do not care at all for rigorous proof or legality! THE PETITION CONTINUES SUCCESSFULLY TO SUPPORT TRUTH AND COMPASSION You stated: "And one last point, despite the Online Petition being online for 4 years, how many people from "Governments, NPO's, Dignitaries, Lawmakers, Police, UN" have submitted a verifiable signature? You evidently believe that such authorities would sign any public petition! No, they receive petitions, and not one has so far questioned the validity of ours. The petition contributed much in bringing together a global network of contact persons and activists who intend that the truth about SSB shall be known, leading to many articles and statements. It played a role in the BBC's decision to proceed with their documentary, and contacts reached through the JuST group were made available to their team, who carried out extensive researches worldwide and contacted numerous abused persons. It is a support to the spirits of sexually abused ex-devotees and to mourning relatives of the murdered. Do not expect any further answer to your antagonistic mails or postings. From the current working committee the Sai Petition (6 members) on behalf of the collective JuST Group. |
As is known to all who follow these matters, Gerald Moreno has constantly and aggressively made false and libelous claims about me and a hundred others - not least calling me a blatant liar in dozens of postings, without a figment of proof. He is particularly virulent in his aggression towards those many young men who have, in their own long and most convincing accounts - sometimes with mutually supportive evidence, been sexually abused by Sathya Sai Baba, though Moreno does not know anything about their experiences except what they have told. After expressing considerable doubt and uncertainty about what it meant, he decided eventually to interpret his own experience of sexual interference by Sathya Sai Baba as some kind of blessing, even though it was an unlawful act according to Indian law and also to morality in general! It was no isolated occurrence, as many others have described the oiling in the pubic and/or genital area, and that it was often followed by sexual approaches and actions.This is simply his hate agenda against critics of the guru he admires so much and defended intensively for years even whole believing him to be a sexual abuser! The reasons for this are fairly evident to those who investigate
See articles finally exposing the years of smear, slur and libel by Gerald Joe Moreno against Robert Priddy plus scores of critics of Sathya Sai Baba.
See also Barry Pittard on the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult
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