"There definitely needs to be an inquiry into the church’s status because it’s not really a church. It may have a philosophy that’s religious, but it’s strictly business”, says ex-scientologist Joe Reaiche. Speaking out for the first time since he was recruited at 19 years old, Joe describes a ‘religious retreat’ he was consigned to for sloppy workmanship as a “slave camp”. A senior member of the church explains that such camps are important opportunities for “reflection, rehabilitation and redemption”. Yet ex-members say that not only is the workload poorly compensated, but the system of punishment is “ridiculous and extreme”. Speaking exclusively, one early member explains how members were treated “abominably” by the now deceased founder of the Church: L.Ron Hubbard. She claims that during Hubbard’s self-imposed exile on the high seas, “people were thrown overboard, hands bound and feet bound and blindfolded”, when they broke the rules. All eventually recovered, yet it’s the increasing frequency of shocking allegations like this, which is bringing increasing pressure on the US and Australian authorities to question Scientology’s legal status.