A follower has asked us to post this Press Release on cbcExposed:
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Iglesia
Ni Cristo (INC) Launches a Major Defamation Lawsuit Against CBC’s TV program,
The Fifth Estate
Winnipeg,
Manitoba (February 11, 2019) – The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) or Church of
Christ, an international religious organization, launched a major defamation lawsuit
against Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)- The Fifth Estate’s TV program
“Church of Secrets”—that they aired in November 2018.
The Notice of Action against CBC and those involved in the Fifth
Estate program had been served on the people being sued. The actual lawsuit was
filed in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Winnipeg, in a historic city where the
first congregation of Iglesia Ni Cristo was registered in Canada.
A news conference organized on behalf of the INC held in Winnipeg
on Friday announced that the charges were based on the scandalous, outrageous
and false accusations against the Church in that program.
At the news conference, which was attended by several Ministers of
the Church, members of the Church, and the Church’s lawyers, the following
points were made by Minister Rod Bruno and Minister Sidney Santos:
1. The Church is seeking,
above all, vindication for the false allegations made against it by CBC’s Fifth
Estate program and, Timothy Sawa and Bob McKeown. There was and is no evidence
to support these false allegations;
2. The Church is seeking
an apology and retraction for the misrepresentations and falsehoods asserted by
the Fifth Estate program. CBC is not prepared to offer an apology and
retraction and have therefore left the Church with no alternative but to pursue
this lawsuit to hold them accountable for these grossly unjust accusations
which were based on nothing more than innuendo and speculation;
3. The program included
an allegation by an individual which turned out to be false. Well
before the program aired, the individual disavowed the information she had
provided to CBC. CBC should have known full well that what the
individual said was false and had been disavowed, yet they proceeded to include
it as part of the program.
4. The program referred
to Iglesia Ni Cristo as the “Church of Secrets.” The point highlighted at the
news conference that the Church had nothing to hide. The Church has been very
involved in outreach programs, humanitarian programs of all sorts and has
participated in assisting victims of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and
tornados;
5. The Ministers made
clear at the news conference that the members of the Church are law-abiding,
God-fearing and peaceful citizens of Canada and the rest of the world.
The Church could not remain silent and do nothing about these
spurious allegations against it that have stained and damaged the Church’s
reputation. The Church is determined to hold CBC accountable for the gross
misrepresentations that tainted its reputation worldwide.
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For further information on the lawsuit, please contact Jay Prober, (204)957-1205, one of the
lawyers for the Church.