'They imprisoned me on a cruise ship for 12 years': Harrowing claims of a former member of the Church of Scientology

Valeska Paris says she was held from the age of 18

Claims she was made to work 48-hour shifts below deck

Says she wasn't allowed to leave alone

Alleges it happened after her mother denounced Scientology

Church says allegations are 'totally false'



A former Scientologist has claimed on television she was imprisoned for 12 years on board a cruise liner after her family denounced the religion.



Valeska Paris says she was held against her will aboard the church's luxury 'cathedral' ship The Freewinds from the age of 18.

Ms Paris, who now lives in Australia, alleges she was forced into hard labour and was never allowed to leave the ship without an escort.

Valeska Paris says she was held against her will aboard the church's luxury ship

In a statement, the Church of Scientology denied Ms Paris' claims saying it was 'the fabrication of an apostate disgruntled ex-member'.



It said: 'She certainly wasn't "forced" to be there. She was also never forced to perform labour in the engine room.

'The Freewinds is a wonderful place, as even Valeska said on numerous occasions. Her allegation that she could only leave the ship with an escort is totally false.'

Ms Paris had claimed in an interview with the ABC News Lateline program that Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige sent her to the ship to stop her family from pulling her out of the organisation.

'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,' she said.

'He decided the ship, and I found out two hours before my plane left, I was woken up in the morning and I was sent to the ship for "two weeks".'

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Ms Paris said she was on the Freewinds (pictured) for the last 12 years

Instead of the promised two week stay, Ms Paris said she was forced into work on the lower levels of the ship for 12 years.

'It's hot, it's extremely loud, it's smelly, it's not nice. I was sent down there at first for 48 hours straight on almost no sleep and I had to work by myself,' she said.

'I did not want to be there, I made it clear I did not want to be there and that was considered bad ethics, meaning it was considered not right.

'They take your passport when you go on the ship and you're in the middle of an island. So it's a bit hard [to escape] and by that time I was 18, I'd been in Scientology my whole life, it's not like I knew how to escape,' she said.

David Miscavige, the leader of the Scientology religion pictured here speaking in London, was accused of being a 'psycopath'

Ms Paris was born into a Scientology family in Switzerland, and at the age of six she moved to Scientology's UK headquarters in East Grinstead, where she was placed in its then youth wing.

At 14 she joined the Church's elite Sea Organisation, signing a contract binding her for a billion years, a commitment that would override her bond with her own family.

Her mother had denounced Scientology on French TV after her ex-husband Albert Jaquier committed suicide.

A self-made millionaire, his last days were spent in poverty, and in a diary he kept, he blamed the Church of Scientology for fleecing him of his fortune.

Ms Paris says the church was so worried her mother would take her away that Mr Miscavige intervened, ordering she be taken to the church's cruise ship.

She described him as a psychopath and says he should be put on trial.

'It's not right for someone to be running the church and basically take advantage of a church and hiding behind religion to live like a king and abuse people around him. That man doesn't like anyone, he's a psychopath,' she said.



All at sea: The Freewinds is used as a base to deliver Scientology's highest level counselling course known as Operating Thetan Level VIII

Life on board: The Freewinds cruises around the Caribbean, docking at small islands

Scientologists say ships have special religious significance because its founder L Ron Hubbard, had researched and ministered the first Operating Thetan levels aboard a ship

The Freewinds is used as a base to deliver Scientology's highest level counselling course known as Operating Thetan Level VIII.



It cruises around the Caribbean docking at small islands. The Church says ships have religious significance to Scientologists because its founder L Ron Hubbard, had researched and ministered the first Operating Thetan levels aboard a ship.

A Scientology promotional video says the ship 'stands at the forefront of a growing worldwide movement towards spiritual advancement transporting Scientologists to new realms of freedom'.

Devotees: Kirsty Alley, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, left to right, are followers of the religion

A spokesman for the church told MailOnline: 'Valeska Guider served as a crew member aboard the Freewinds religious retreat as a volunteer, religious worker.

'She was an adult and there of her own free will as part of her religious commitment to the Church of Scientology.



'The Freewinds is a passenger vessel with hundreds of people aboard. Ms Guider's staff positions as a waitress, course instructor and staff counsellor regularly placed her in contact with many parishioners and staff.

'She met the man to whom she was married from 1998 to 2005 and who affirms that her claims of being held against her will are utterly false.

'She left the Freewinds hundreds of times to go shopping, for outings with her husband on the islands of St Kitts, Aruba, St Barts and Curaçao, and for numerous other reasons.

'She went on extended trips to the UK, U.S. and Denmark passing through Immigration and Customs when entering and leaving these countries. Her claims are false.

'The Freewinds, based in the Caribbean, is a religious retreat where Scientologists come for events, conventions, courses and spiritual counseling.

'The Freewinds is visited regularly by officials from the islands and countries it visits. It also serves as a training vessel and has become the regional authority on maritime security and trains law enforcement and military personnel.

'A recent Meritorious Public Service Award from U.S. Homeland Security, awarded to the Freewinds by the U.S. Coast Guard, describes the Freewinds as the "premier training platform throughout the Caribbean Basin".

'It further acknowledges continuous instruction of Caribbean personnel in what is described as the "highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard's core values—honor, respect and devotion to duty".'



The Church of Scientology is famous for attracting a celebrity following, particularly among Hollywood’s elite.