The Board of Directors, members and correspondents of FECRIS have the immense sadness to announce the death of Dr. Jacques Richard, their founding President. We salute here his courage, his tenacity, his commitment to defend the victims of destructive cults. He will remain a model for all of us.

Tribute to Jacques Richard by Suzanne Nokin, wife of the late Jean Nokin, President of FECRIS from 1999 to 2005.

Jacques Richard was one of the last surviving pioneers of UNADFI, created in 1982 by a handful of families whose children or spouses were victims at that time of a swarm of sects from around the world, India in particular via the United States mainly. His tenacity, his perseverance, the strength of his convictions, the line he had traced out bore fruit.

 

A doctor at Le Mans, he had created an ADFI antenna at Le Mans. He was one of the pillars of UNADFI, headquartered in Paris. He was a valuable contributor to the editorial board of UNADFI’s BULLES information magazine.

 

His integrity, the ethics and scope with which he apprehended the delicate problem of cultic movements and the addiction they arouse were exemplary.

 

The creation of FECRIS was decided in Barcelona in 1993 at an international symposium on cultic movements organized by the Spanish association A.I.S.

 

Jacques Richard had agreed to take charge of the “construction” of this European federation. For a year he took his pilgrim’s staff and visited every country likely to join this cause. It was a huge task because at the time the subject was still taboo, and cultic movements were powerful.

 

FECRIS was therefore officially created in France in 1994, in Paris. Jacques took the chair. It was then composed of 7 European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom). Today there are associations of 30 countries that are members or correspondents – including 5 on other continents.

 

With very limited financial means, he managed to establish this federation, to structure it and to put in trust the members who, by joining the federation, were able to strengthen their reputation in their respective countries.

 

FECRIS’ base being very solid, it became an INGO with participative status of the Council of Europe in 2005, an NGO with special consultative status of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2009 and participant status of the Platform of Fundamental Rights (FRP) of the European Union in 2010.