Media and authorities should focus on the real horrors of Scientology's Freewinds - 2019-05-05

Media and authorities should focus on the real horrors of Scientology's Freewinds May 5, 2019, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker

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In 2011, we first told the story of Valeska Paris, who was sent to Scientology's Freewinds cruise ship in 1996 at 18 in order to keep her away from her mother, who had criticized Scientology on French television. She served on the ship for 11 years without any choice in the matter, and she characterizes herself as a prisoner.

Her story is getting a lot more attention now because the Freewinds itself is in the news as it's been quarantined, first in St. Lucia and now in Curacao, because a crew member was determined to have a confirmed case of the measles. On Thursday, Valeska told us about a previous infection on the ship, when a crew member with chickenpox was sent ashore to a hotel and the ship's officers never notified local authorities.

But Valeska says the media is missing the point if they focus only on measles or other infectious diseases when it comes to the Freewinds. She isn't the only former worker who was held on the ship against her will, and she witnessed a lot worse. In fact, she has given us a remarkable rundown of the things she saw while she was on the ship, and we publish it here hoping the rest of the media pays more attention to the Freewinds as a floating ship of horrors and not merely a symbol of the anti-vaccination ignorance in the U.S. Here's her piece…

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | author = Tony Ortega | title = Media and authorities should focus on the real horrors of Scientology's Freewinds | url = https://tonyortega.org/2019/05/05/media-authorities-should-focus-on-the-real-horrors-of-scientologys-freewinds/ | work = Underground Bunker | date = May 5, 2019 | accessdate = May 5, 2019 }}