Valeska Paris, an Australian women and former Scientologist, has claimed that the Church of Scientology imprisoned her for twelve years aboard the Scientology-owned cruise ship, Freewinds.

Paris claims she was first sent to the ship aged eighteen for two weeks as a teenager but ended up spending twelve years there. Paris also claims that her passport was taken away from her and forced her to work in the engine room.

Paris was born in Switzerland but her parents moved her to the United Kingdom when she was six so they could be closer to the church’s headquarters. She joined the Sea Org aged 14. In 1995, at age seventeen, she was told to “disconnect” from her mother.

“I was basically hauled in and told that my mum had attacked the church and that I needed to disconnect from her because she was suppressive”. Her mother had spoken out against Scientology on French television after her ex-husband and Paris’ father, Albert Jaquier, committed suicide after he lost his fortune to Scientology. Paris claims that she was kept at Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida until she was eighteen and then transferred to the Freewinds.

Read more: Wikinews.org