We have good reason to believe that a critical news coverage about Natha will be released in Danmarks Radio (DR) within the next few days. Therefore we want to inform the public about what we know so far. We might also publish a press release with further comments on the content after the news coverage has been published.

Here is what we know so far:

The Danish reporters Thomas Prakash (DR Nyhederne) and Merle Baeré (Mørklagt) have in collaboration with the reporters Markus Alfredsson (Kaliber) and Ida Nordén (Kaliber) from Sveriges Radio (SR) produced a news coverage and two podcasts about the yoga schools Natha Denmark and Natha Sweden concerning the legal investigation of yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru in France.

Natha has since the autumn corresponded with the reporters about their podcasts and news coverage. In December 2024, Natha sent them an official answer to their questions. You can find the answer we gave them here: https://natha.dk/press-release-dec-2024/

In January 2025, the DR reporters asked Natha for an interview for the podcast with a spokesman of the organisation. We answered with an invitation to come by the yogacenter to have an ’off the record’ talk with two experienced teachers over a cup of tea. To get to know each other before pressing the record button. The DR reporters Thomas Prakash and Merle Baeré declined our invitation repeatedly. They replied that they were only interested in having an interview with an official spokesman ’on tape’.

Meanwhile, their Swedish colleagues from SR and the podcast Kaliber, Markus Alfredsson and Ida Nordén, had sent one of their colleagues (CD) as an undercover reporter to participate in the Esoteric Tantra Yoga course in Stockholm and the winter retreat in December 2024 organised by Natha Stockholm. She was subscribed as a student in Stockholm for 6 months and fully engaged in the course and the activities of the school before she suddenly unsubscribed, and our colleagues in Stockholm received a phone call from Markus Alfredsson admitting she had been an undercover reporter.

CD also participated in the Tantrafestival in Copenhagen on 5 – 6 April 2025 organised by Natha Denmark. What she had also not shared with us is that she had been secretly recording during the festival in Copenhagen as well as during her 6 months participation in the yoga school in Stockholm. The SR reporters informed us, that they will use audio of ‘environmental sounds’ from the Tantrafestival in their podcast.

We sent a letter a few days ago to the editors of DR and SR, making them aware that this is most likely a violation of national laws on GDPR and privacy in both Denmark (Straffelovens § 264d) and Sweden. We asked them to immediately delete any recordings they are in possession of from our classes and events. We consider it unethical and a breach of our participants’ right to privacy and an unnecessary disclosure of sensitive information about them.

Your image and voice are your private property. They belong to you in the same way as your body and personal information. They can not be shared with the public and on social media without your permission. Prior to her participation, CD signed the obligatory consent agreement explicitly stating that any form of recording during the festival is prohibited for participants in order to protect peoples private space. We will do our very best to protect the privacy and legal rights of our students and people in our network.

It only speaks to the cynical and invasive methods of these national media, who’s sole interest seems to be to produce the necessary materials for the story they set out to tell. Even before the legal investigating in France is over. Even before any penal procedure have been concluded or any verdict given. Even before knowing all the facts.

Right now, the media campaigns involving the member schools of the Atman Federation in many countries are solely based on allegations from the legal case in France and opinions from former members and critics. Almost identical news coverage as the one breaking in few days in Denmark and Sweden have been seen recently in United Kingdom, Germany and Czech Republic. All media campaigns are based on statements from the same international group of people consisting of former students of the member schools, alleged victims and critics.

The DR reporters sent a few days ago a sketched presentation of the upcoming news coverage and podcast to Natha for our comments. According to the Press Complaints Board’s (Pressenævnets) guidelines on rebuttals (Chapter 6, §§ 36-40 of the Media Liability Act), we are not entitled to rebut news coverage’s assessments or opinions, but only information of a factual nature.

We therefore decided not to comment on the opinions of their sources about Natha. This is an editorial and narrative choice they have made as journalists on the production. They declined to meet with us to hear our side of the story. They only wanted some formal answers ’on tape’ to dramatise the story they had set out to tell.

We informed them that we reserve the right to further rebuttal after the publication of their news coverage, as their submission is only a sporadic reproduction of the content. We also drew their attention to the fact that we can prosecute them for any statement that violates Danish and Swedish law regarding libel and defamatory statements against the association or the association’s students, employees, members and partners.

In conclusion, we want to express our firm belief that anyone who has truly violated the law in this case should face penal charges for what they have done. We strongly reject all forms of abuse, misuse of power and manipulation – both in theory and practice. Respect for individual boundaries, consent and privacy are fundamental values in our organisation. We have clear internal policies and processes to address unacceptable behaviour, and we will act consistently if these are violated.

Recently, we have also learnt, that there is a documentary film and possible Netflix/BBC release on the horizon about the international yoga movement produced by TYH Films Limited and Light Box. So it seems the ’Natha on Netflix’ community meeting we kept 1½ years ago was not so far off the plan and probably already in play back then. Both production companies seem to have been registered in the UK around two years ago. It is normally how such controversial productions are done, so the real people behind the production can foreclose the companies in case of losing lawsuits from private persons or organisations, which they defame in their programs.

In the spirit of transparency and honesty we wanted to share these important updates with you. We will also organise a community meeting in Natha for all our members and students soon after the release of the podcasts, where we can answer all questions you might have about the content. We might also publish a press release with further comments on the content.

Finally, we attach below our recent answers to the reporters from DR and SR, so you can see for yourself what it is all about:
Forelæggelse af kommende nyhedsdækning 28/04/2025
Påstande der fremsættes i artikler 29/04/2025

Yours Sincerely,
Team Natha

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