ABC Lateline TONIGHT - Imprisonment on the Freewinds - 2011-11-28

[solo]

Great to hear more people speaking out.

Anyone know if Valeska is related to Angela Paris (head of Walsh Manor School), formerly Angela Berthoud of AOSHUK?

Solo

 

[mnql1]

Translation of a French article posted on Dec. 3, 2011 on the website of Paris Match:
Esclave en haute mer. 12 ans dans les griffes de la scientologie

SLAVE ON THE HIGH SEAS. 12 YEARS IN THE CLUTCHES OF SCIENTOLOGY

by David Ramasseul - Parismatch.com
December 3, 2011



Twelve years of slavery on the Scientology flagship. The testimony of Valeska Paris reveals the true nature of the cult of the stars.


In two interviews with the ABC network and the Swiss daily Le Matin, Valeska Paris, a 34-year-old Swiss woman, tells a harrowing story: the young woman says she was held against her will for 12 years on a cruise ship that belongs to the Church of Scientology.

After being forced to board the luxury liner Freewinds at the age of 18, she had to toil 48 hours a week: "I was put to work on ship maintenance, and then in the restaurant. I worked every day, for 200 dollars a month. I couldn't walk off the ship unless I was accompanied, and I had to ask for permission to have a day off," she told Le Matin.

Valeska Paris says she was held hostage to force her mother to stop her public attacks against the church. It was Scientology's top leader in person, David Miscavige, who literally threw her aboard the ship: "He told me I had to be preserved from the influence of my mother, a suppressive person."

In the cult's jargon, a suppressive person is "an antisocial personality who works to upset, continuously undermine, spread bad news and denigrate other people and their activities." In reality, this definition applies to all of the cult's detractors, including Ariane Jackson, Valeska's mother, a Genevan woman who left the church in 1996 after the death of her husband, who was "bankrupted by the church". When Ariane broke away, Valeska and another of Ariane's three children were still under the influence of psychological conditioning.

Valeska's "cruise" was supposed to last 15 days. She says it was prolonged for 12 years. According to her account, the teenager spent the first days doing hard labour in the bowels of the ship, far from the luxury of the upper decks, in conditions of stifling heat, deafening noise, and permanent stench, as punishment for her disobedience to the dictates of Scientology's leaders.

"Scientology was all I knew from childhood and I didn't how to escape"

Was she really held prisoner? Did she try to escape? "I made it clear to them that I did not want to be there. But they held my passport and I was only 18." Trapped in her sailing prison, Valeska Paris also had to tear down her own mental wall: "Scientology was all I knew from childhood and I didn't how to escape," she told ABC. Born in Switzerland, she was enrolled at the age of 6 at St. Hill a London "school" that trains Scientology's future elite. At the age of 14, she signed the surrealistic billion-year contract that sealed her entry into the "Sea Org". In the church's pyramidal structure, the "Sea Org" is a body that oversees every branch of the tentacular organisation. For four years, she complied with the iron discipline that reigns in Clearwater, the Sea Org base in Florida.

But when her mother broke away from Scientology, it was urgent to isolate Valeska, who was still a teenager, from her mother's influence, because Ariane Jackson was not just an average Scientologist: during her 18 years in Scientology, she had climbed every rung of the hierarchical ladder and reached the elevated rank of OT8. She knew in detail about the cult's operations and conditioning methods (see sidebar). What she could say to the media carried a lot of weight. Her appearance on the TF1 program Sans aucun doute ["Without a doubt"] in 1996, attracted 10 million viewers, a disaster for the church's image. Keeping Valeska Paris in Scientology was an absolute necessity to exert pressure on her mother.



Photo caption: The Freewinds, a 135-metre luxury liner, has been sailing for 21 years in the Caribbean and is operated by International Shipping, a Scientology-controlled company. The ship serves as a training center for upper-level Scientologists and to pamper the church's most zealous - and most famous - propagandists. (DR)

During these twelve years of what can only be called captivity, the young woman, revolted by the injustice of her situation, built up her psychological autonomy little by little, despite being unable to escape. It was her rebelliousness and the discovery of love that provided the opportunity and the strength to conquer her freedom. In November 2007, writes Le Matin, she was sent to a rehabilitation center in Australia to bring her back into obedience. There, she met Chris and she married him in secret in 2009.

This clandestine marriage weakened the organisation's influence. Like all totalitarian organisations, Scientology strives to make individuals feel alone in the group by controlling both their thoughts and their emotions. Chris and Valeska's secret marriage gave them the decisive momentum to escape. A month after the ceremony, they left the cult. The couple still lives in Australia. The birth of a child crowned their quest for freedom, and Valeska is again pregnant.

For Scientology, the young woman's testimony is a web of fabrications and exaggerations. The church will no doubt say the same about the story of Melissa, Valeska's younger sister, who also broke away from this "religion". However, the judges who receive the complaints filed by former members around the world may have a different opinion.

SIDEBAR

A delusional mythology

Scientology's rational façade and the presence in the church of stars such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise often makes people forget the cult's doctrinaire core, an incredible mishmash imagined by SF writer L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the cult and inventor of Dianetics.

In Scientology's mythology, humanity is under the control of an alien galactic federation that interferes with the spiritual development of Earthlings. To combat this influence, the church offers extremely expensive techniques that Ariane Jackson described in this interview available online at antisectes.net . The interview is dated 1996 and the transcript is still in draft form, so it is a bit difficult to read, but it offers a fascinating window into the workings of this incredible money machine built on the ruins of broken spirits.

 

[Cherished]

Thank you, dear mnql1.

I suspect this paragraph is spot on and answers the question why David Miscavige got personally involved:

But when her mother broke away from Scientology, it was urgent to isolate Valeska, who was still a teenager, from her mother's influence, because Ariane Jackson was not just an average Scientologist: during her 18 years in Scientology, she had climbed every rung of the hierarchical ladder and reached the elevated rank of OT8. She knew in detail about the cult's operations and conditioning methods (see sidebar). What she could say to the media carried a lot of weight. Her appearance on the TF1 program Sans aucun doute ["Without a doubt"] in 1996, attracted 10 million viewers, a disaster for the church's image. Keeping Valeska Paris in Scientology was an absolute necessity to exert pressure on her mother.

 

[Free to shine]

That is a great article and it shows international media really is grasping the complexities of the scientology world.

 

[Panda Termint]

But when her mother broke away from Scientology, it was urgent to isolate Valeska, who was still a teenager, from her mother's influence, because Ariane Jackson was not just an average Scientologist: during her 18 years in Scientology, she had climbed every rung of the hierarchical ladder and reached the elevated rank of OT8. She knew in detail about the cult's operations and conditioning methods (see sidebar). What she could say to the media carried a lot of weight. Her appearance on the TF1 program Sans aucun doute ["Without a doubt"] in 1996, attracted 10 million viewers, a disaster for the church's image. Keeping Valeska Paris in Scientology was an absolute necessity to exert pressure on her mother.

Thank you, dear mnql1.

I suspect this paragraph is spot on and answers the question why David Miscavige got personally involved:

Yes, Cherished and I'm sure that it was not only about Control either, I suggest that what happened to Valeska was done as cruel Punishment for Ariane.

 

[Feral]

Yes, Cherished and I'm sure that it was not only about Control either, I suggest that what happened to Valeska was done as cruel Punishment for Ariane.

Petty vindictive cult leader David Miscavige digging his own grave.

 

[scooter]

Petty vindictive cult leader David Miscavige digging his own grave.

At least He only needs dig a small hole

 

[jenni with an eye]

At least He only needs dig a small hole

 

[Dulloldfart]

Great to hear more people speaking out.

Anyone know if Valeska is related to Angela Paris (head of Walsh Manor School), formerly Angela Berthoud of AOSHUK?

Solo

Valeska was a child before Angela met and married her father (Jean-François Paris). I don't know if I ever saw Valeska, but I remember her father. And Angela.

And Stonelands.

Paul

 

[Boojuum]

Wow!!!

How can one organization come up with so much devastating news about itself.

Amazing.

 

[Magoo]

But when her mother broke away from Scientology, it was urgent to isolate Valeska, who was still a teenager, from her mother's influence, because Ariane Jackson was not just an average Scientologist: during her 18 years in Scientology, she had climbed every rung of the hierarchical ladder and reached the elevated rank of OT8. She knew in detail about the cult's operations and conditioning methods (see sidebar). What she could say to the media carried a lot of weight. Her appearance on the TF1 program Sans aucun doute ["Without a doubt"] in 1996, attracted 10 million viewers, a disaster for the church's image. Keeping Valeska Paris in Scientology was an absolute necessity to exert pressure on her mother.

Was Valeska ever at Gold? I ask because around 1996 I was called by OSA to go "Handle a Mom who is Type 3". I asked, "What's UP?" I was told: "This mother wants to talk to her daughter----we don't want her to, as she's Type 3 (Scientology's word for gone insane).

I told this person: "IF you would not let me talk with my child...that alone
would DRIVE me insane. Don't EVER call me again, re something like this, and let the Mother talk with her daughter~!"

It took me 4 more years to fully wake up, and escape out, myself. However, that conversation for sure helped in breaking open my own Scio-Truman Show.

David Miscavige IS an evil, creepy Jack ass, with people who do follow his insane orders.

If you're lurking, and read this: BAIL WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
You do NOT have to do harmful things. You KNOW what is right and good.
Don't let ANYONE invalidate *that*. The policy? "If it isn't true for you, it isn't true". LRH said that---so use it, and get outta there, NOW.

Leaving C of $ FEELS like you have to jump off a cliff 1,000 feet high.
The truth is? It's *nothing more than walking across the street*.
See the line? WALK OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE!

Congratulations to Valeska, her Mother, and ABC Lateline and ALL of the Aussies, as well as ALL who continue to speak out. Every single bit helps!~

Love to ALL

Tory/Magoo

 

[mnql1]

Translation of an interview with Valeska Paris posted on Feb. 2, 2012 on the website of French daily Le Parisien:
Une ancienne scientologue : «J’ai perdu tout un pan de ma vie»

Former Scientologist: "I lost a whole part of my life"

Interview with Valeska Paris by Anne-Cécile Juillet
Published on February 2, 2012

She speaks some French, a souvenir of the six years she lived on the French-Swiss border, where she attended a French school. This is the first time Valeska Paris has spoken to French media.

What has your life been like since you left Scientology?
I have a happy life. I am expecting my second child. I work in event planning. It wasn't easy to find this job. I left school at the age of 14, I have no diplomas, except for Scientology certificates. I had to readapt to the world. I was subjected to brainwashing for the first twenty-nine years of my life. Women of my age had an adolescence, romances during their youth. Not me. I have the impression I lost a whole part of my life.

What kind of relations do you have with your family today?
My mother and my sister left Scientology and they are now happily living in the United States. My father and my brother are still Scientologists. My father is living is Chicago and he had his entire family disconnect from us. My grandparents live in Paris. I haven't seen them for years and I would sincerely like to be re-establish contact with them.

Are you considering filing a complaint?
I am assisted by legal advisors and a lawyer, because I know who I am dealing with. But I have to be realistic, I don't have loads of money and, in the other corner, I am facing a very rich multinational business. I don't have the means to attack Scientology. This is one of their strengths.

Yet you feel that the place where David Miscavige belongs is in court.
Yes, and I am not the only one who thinks this, even inside Scientology. That man is very far from the religious precepts of L. Ron Hubbard. All he talks about is money, money, money ... and power. To gain maximum control, he breaks up families. There have already been many problems in the Church and he has never questioned himself. But more and more people know what Scientology really is today: a web of lies.

Are you following Scientology's legal developments in France?
Of course, I am hoping it will be convicted. David Miscavige hates France. One day, we had organized a celebration for Alain Rosenberg [one of the defendants] on the Freewinds; he had just won an award. Everything was decorated in the colors of France. Miscavige, in a rage, ordered that everything be torn down! He detests France because he can't do what he wants there. It's a pebble in his shoe.

 

[Infinite]

Yet you feel that the place where David Miscavige belongs is in court.

Yes, and I am not the only one who thinks this, even inside Scientology. That man is very far from the religious precepts of L. Ron Hubbard. All he talks about is money, money, money ... and power. To gain maximum control, he breaks up families. There have already been many problems in the Church and he has never questioned himself. But more and more people know what Scientology really is today: a web of lies.

"The GE [Genetic Entity] is a family man. The GE is lost without the family. It's very strange but Homo Sap is a family unit. The GE is built on that basis[/B]...

"And your thetan, by the way, can much more easily go into a group. Families are not good groups."

- L Ron Hubbard from 10 December 1952, 'Flows, Patterns, and Intention', PDC lecture series.

"MAKE MONEY. MAKE MORE MONEY. MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE MORE MONEY."

- L. Ron Hubbard, Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, 9 March 1972, MS OEC 384

. . . nearly there, Valeska.

 

[Gadfly]

Translation of an interview with Valeska Paris posted on Feb. 2, 2012 on the website of French daily Le Parisien:
Une ancienne scientologue : «J’ai perdu tout un pan de ma vie»

Former Scientologist: "I lost a whole part of my life"

Interview with Valeska Paris by Anne-Cécile Juillet
Published on February 2, 2012

She speaks some French, a souvenir of the six years she lived on the French-Swiss border, where she attended a French school. This is the first time Valeska Paris has spoken to French media.

<snip>

Yet you feel that the place where David Miscavige belongs is in court?

Yes, and I am not the only one who thinks this, even inside Scientology. That man is very far from the religious precepts of L. Ron Hubbard. All he talks about is money, money, money ... and power. To gain maximum control, he breaks up families. There have already been many problems in the Church and he has never questioned himself. But more and more people know what Scientology really is today: a web of lies.

Sorry Valeska, but in fact, that man, David Miscavige is VERY CLOSE to the "religious precepts" of L. Ron Hubbard. Miscavige duplicates instructions on how to run and control the Scientology organization quite well.

Miscavige talks about MONEY constantly just as did his mentor, L. Ron Hubbard. The top purpose of the Church of Scientology is to "expand" and "make money". It may have coincidental aims such as "getting people up the Bridge", or "delivering training and auditing", but these tie in closely with "making lots of money". And, the aims such as "freeing people" and "making a better world" are PR - ideas that are part of the bait 'n switch that is so inherent, common and necessary to Scientology.

Miscavige breaks up families just as did Hubbard. One need only follow Hubbard's instructions about "ethics", SPs, and disconnection to tear families apart. It has been going on for at least 40-50 years. It is NOT "new" to Scientology.

Miscavige NEVER questions himself, and Hubbard never questioned himself. They are 100% fully "certain", just as are MANY Scientologists who follow the model created by Hubbard. That inability for self-questioning and honest introspection is part of their nature as the obnoxious, elitist, arrogant, self-centered ego-maniacs that they BOTH were and are.

Valeska says, "more and more people know what Scientology really is today: a web of lies". You need to leave out the adjective "today". Scientology has ALWAYS been a WEB OF LIES and yes, happily, more and more people ARE coming to that correct understanding through the care and affinity of honest critics, the communication of true facts about the Scientology charade, and the reality of who and what both Hubbard and Scientology TRULY were and are. See, ARC does equal understanding. One just needs to "use it" the correct way.

An honest observation of the facts about Scientology shows it to be a farce, a deception, and an unthinking machine that sucks in and spits out what are largely decent people. THAT is a "correct understanding" about Scientology.

 

[mnql1]

Translation of a French article posted on Feb. 22, 2012 on the website of the weekly Swiss magazine L'illustré:

GENEVOISE SÉQUESTRÉE PAR LA SCIENTOLOGIE

Photo caption: When Geneva native Valeska Paris was 19, she worked
as a waitress in one of the Freewind's restaurants. In this photo, Valeska
is with the cult's spokesperson. The poster in the background is of
L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

TWELVE YEARS OF HELL

GENEVAN WOMAN HELD AGAINST HER WILL BY SCIENTOLOGY

By convicting Scientology of organised fraud early in February, the Paris court of appeal indirectly sent a strong signal to 34-year-old Valeska Paris, a former Scientology member who now lives in Sydney. She was held against her will beginning at the age of 18 on the "Freewinds", the pride of the Scientology fleet. It was an odyssey to the edge of madness.

by Blaise Calame
L'Illustré
February 22, 2012


"I was subjected to brainwashing for the first 29 years of my life. I had to readapt myself to the world. Women of my age had an adolescence and they've had romances. Not me." The story of Valeska Paris, a 34-year-old Genevan woman, is chilling. She was caught in a trap by Scientology long before the age of reason and today she is trying to rebuild her life in Sydney, where she works in event management.

Valeska was born in Meyrin (Canton of Geneva) on December 12, 1977. "I remember that we lived near the French border," she says, during a telephone interview. Jean-François Paris, her father is French, and Arianne, her mother, Swiss. The couple had three children, Valeska being the eldest. Her sister Melissa was born in 1979 and her brother Raphaël in 1982. They were a Scientology family.

The Genevan childhood of the Paris siblings came to an end with the divorce of their parents. Valeska was only 6 years old. The father, who obtained custody of the children, joined the Sea Organisation, a sort of Scientology elite, in East Grinstead, England.

The children were boarded in the Cadet Organisation, where education consists chiefly of scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets. According to Scientology, every human being has lived thousands of lives over the centuries; a person's spirit, called a "thetan", is imbued with that experience. A child is thus a synthesis of multiple prior existences. Scientology is not for people who don't take such things seriously.

STEP-FATHER'S SUICIDE

Although they were divorced, both parents remained inside the cult. Valeska's mother, Arianne, remarried a Frenchman, Albert Jaquier, a former scrap metal dealer who built up a veritable fortune that he soon dilapidated by spending it on Scientology, before committing suicide in December 1994. The indifference and contempt displayed by the cult drove his widow to denounce the nefarious organisation on the TF1 television channel, a move that cost her children dearly. For Scientologists, Valeska's mother had become a pariah, or a "suppressive person". That year, Valeska saw her mother for the last time in what turned out to be a very long time. At age 14, Valeska was forced to sign a contract binding her to the cult "for a billion years" (sic)!

Valeska was transferred to the Flag Land Base, the headquarters of the Sea Org, in Clearwater, Florida, where she was assigned to serve Scientology's leader, David Miscavige, an American.

In September 1996, when Valeska was 18, Miscavige sent her to his flagship, the Freewinds, which cruises the Caribbean. "They woke me up one morning and I left," she says, "for what was supposed to be two weeks ..." She remained on the ship twelve years, unable to contact her family and with no visits allowed.

"The first time I went aboard," says she, "I hated it. I immediately wanted to leave, but my passport had been confiscated and we were under surveillance twenty-four hours a day. It was impossible to escape. I gave up." Any form of misconduct was severely punished. The engine room, with its noisy furnace, served as a jail cell, and Valeska Paris often found herself confined there ...

The most advanced Scientologists visit the ship for a spiritual training session called "Operating Thetan Level 8" or OT VIII - a course that costs $8,000. Every month of June, there is a Maiden Voyage, an annual commemorative cruise, that attracts flocks of followers. Valeska Paris remembers, in particular, a surreal visit by Tom Cruise (see sidebar).

MARRIED TO A GHOST

On May 9, 1998, Valeska married Roberto Toppi, a member of the Italian Sea Org, but he turned into a real ghost. "During seven years of marriage, we spent less than ten months together," sighs Valeska. Their divorce took place in 2005.

On the Freewinds, the Genevan was exploited for 50 dollars a week. She began in 1996 as a waitress. Six years later, she became an auditor and an instructor. "I was stuck in a trap," she says. "That was the only life I knew. I was taught that Scientology was the only answer and I had no reason to doubt it." Indoctrination is perverse.

However, she saw people having breakdowns. Other persons who were once held up as models would suddenly become stigmatised. David Miscavige behaved like a tyrant. In 2007, during one of her confinements to the engine room, Valeska Paris lost consciousness and nearly died.

As Valeska approached the age of 30, she developed a single ambition: to escape. She was considered dangerous because of her unpredictable behaviour. This made her a perfect candidate for Scientology's re-education camp or, in Scientology jargon, the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), which is located in Sydney. "Sea Org officials decided my fate," she says, "but I didn't care, as long as I could get off the damn ship." The organisation required that she accept the assignment in writing. She consented.

A RAIN OF REPRISALS

In the RPF, in Sydney, Valeska met Chris Guider, a Scientologist who had also been sentenced there. He became her second husband on March 23, 2009. A son, Declan, was born on July 22, 2010. In late August 2009, before their son's birth, the couple broke away completely from Scientology. Valeska Paris signed confidentiality agreements, but this did not stop her from speaking out.

The response was a rain of reprisals. While she was pregnant with Declan, Valeska received messages of insults from her father and her brother, both of whom, unlike her sister Melissa, remained Scientologists, her father in Chicago, her brother in Los Angeles. Valeska managed to re-establish contact with her younger sister and, especially, with her mother, Arianne, whom she had not seen for fifteen years.

In Australia, Valeska is rebuilding her life. She is even expecting a second child. Her best weapon against the Church of Scientology, which has tried to silence her by sending her threatening letters, is her testimony. Valeska Paris Guider no longer allows herself to be intimidated: "I don't think I will ever be sued, because I have enough to implicate David Miscavige in person, and Scientology will never take the risk of exposing him to a court."

Sidebar

WHEN TOM CRUISE IS ABOARD ...

Tom Cruise is Scientology's number two.

In June 2004. all hands were on combat alert aboard the Freewinds, where Tom Cruise chose to celebrate his 42nd birthday on July 3. The staff was briefed. "Asking for an autograph was totally forbidden and would be punished," remembers Valeska Paris. No familiarity toward the star would be allowed either: he had to be addressed as "Sir".

Just before D-Day, Valeska developed a cold sore. This was an "offence" equivalent to "treason", and Valeska was quarantined. However, leader David Miscavige insisted on having Valeska serve the actor and his girlfriend, Penelope Cruz.

In violation of all ship rules prohibiting any intimacy on board, the couple occupied the most beautiful cabin. A private yacht took them scuba diving. All for free! "A Chinese chef was even specially brought in from New York to cook for Tom Cruise, who was on a diet," says Valeska.

To cater to the movie idol's narcissism, "the ship was decorated with giant posters from all his movies, except for those with Nicole Kidman [who is anti-Scientology (Editor's note)] and, during the party, the orchestra played songs from these movies." A delusional personality cult.

 

[ChuckNorrisCutsMyLawn]

Wow, just caught a promo for Lateline (on in an hour) about a new Scientology story.

The brief: Australian resident Valeska Paris Guider was held against her will on the Freewinds for 6 YEARS when she was 17!


I haven't heard any whiff of this report before, anyone in the know?


Can't wait for the full report, will keep you posted!


Update: Video posted below!

Edit: Text version: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3378641.htm

Lateline:
[video=youtube;XWJlEWWLvLM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XWJlEWWLvLM[/video]
A Current Affair
[video=youtube;Ez-SBtRrYmU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ez-SBtRrYmU[/video]

How can an government on the planet not consider what the cult is doing to be human trafficking?

What else could you call taking someone on a ship, taking away their passport, then forcing them to do labor?

 

[Sindy]

Yes, and meanwhile, her dad is still in drinking the kool-aid, abandoning his two daughters (as the brother, his son, is still in too) and he has never seen his 3 grandchildren. What a waste.