The Church of Scientology has released a statement denying the allegations of an Australian woman, Valeska Paris, who claims she was imprisoned on the group's cruise ship "The Freewinds" for over 10 years.
The church, in its prepared statement, claims the woman was a volunteer crew member of their cruise ship "The Freewinds" and was never held against her will. The following is an excerpt from their statement to the media:
"Valeska Guider [Paris] was serving as a crew member aboard the Freewinds religious retreat as a volunteer, adult religious worker. She was 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 counselor regularly placed her in contact with many parishioners and staff. She met and married her first husband there to whom she was married from 1998-2005 and who affirms her statements are false. She left the Freewinds hundreds of times to go shopping, for outings with her husband on islands such as St. Kitts, Aruba, St. Barts and Curaçao, as well as for numerous other reasons. She participated in extended trips to the UK, US and Denmark for which she passed through Immigration and Customs when entering and exiting these countries. Her claims are false."
[For more information on this topic, see: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation News) www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-28/womanimprisonedonScientologycruiseship; "Lateline" by Steve Cannane, updated November 30, 2011; "Yahoo!" News, 2011; "The Sideshow", 2011]
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