Defamation trial over "The Cult Effect" book begins in Hobart in May

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NewsDefamation trial over "The Cult Effect" book begins in Hobart in MayBSBy Benjamin SeederUpdated April 27 2023 - 9:12am, first published April 26 2023 - 3:57pmBy Benjamin SeederUpdated

April 27 2023 - 9:12am, first published April 26 2023 - 3:57pmFacebookTwitterWhatsappEmailCopy A Tasmanian court on Wednesday ordered lawyers for former religious group leader Natasha Lakaev

to hand over witness lists and other evidence before a defamation trial begins next month.

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50% off EOFY SaleAll articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperCrosswords, Sudoku and TriviaAll other regional websites in your areaContinueNatasha Lakaev. Source:

Linkedin Ms Lakaev in the early 2000s managed the Universal Knowledge organisation, which predicted the end of the world in 2012 and charged members thousands of dollars for the knowledge of

how to switch dimensions to avoid it.

She claimed that a book and other internet posts by former Universal Knowledge member, Carli McConkey, defamed her.

She has launched legal action in the Supreme Court in Tasmania, where she now resides, managing the Geeveston bed and breakfast The Bears Went Over the Mountain.

Appearing by video link in a hearing on Wednesday, Ms McConkey said that she had been unable to secure key witness information and evidence from Ms Lakaev's counsel, Daniel Zeeman.

Asked by Justice Helen Wood why he had not provided the lists to Ms McConkey, Mr Zeeman said he had been instructed not to by his client.

The judge then ordered Mr Zeeman to hand over the files by the end of the week.

Justice Wood also refused an application seeking to require witnesses, many of which are based in Queensland and NSW, to appear in person in court in Hobart during the trial.

The trial is scheduled to begin on May 15.

Ms McConkey claimed on her website that she spent 13 years as a member of Ms Lakaev's organisation, and that she had been brainwashed into believing that Lakaev was a reincarnation of Jesus

Christ and one of 12 on the "Intergalactic Council of the Universe".

According to the website: "She prophesied that the world would end in an Armageddon scenario on 11:11:11 (later 12:12:12) and said there would be few survivors apart from herself and her

group".

Ms McConkey's book, "The Cult Effect", was published in 2017, and recounts her experiences with Universal Knowledge and how she eventually came to leave the organisation.

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