At the trial of one of the “Beatles” of the IS, a former hostage relives his 14 months of hell
Federico Motka, who was detained for 14 months by the Islamic State (IS) group, gave chilling testimony on the second day of El Shafee el-Sheikh’s trial in US justice.
The trial of El Shafee el-Sheikh, the first of an IS jihadist of this ilk on American soil, is expected to last at least three weeks.
AFP
Beaten, electrocuted, forced to fight against other hostages or to attend an execution: Federico Motka, an Italian humanitarian, told Thursday, at the trial of one of his captors, the abuse endured at the hands of British jihadists particularly sadists.
El Shafee el-Sheikh, a 33-year-old man, stripped of his British nationality, is accused of having been part of a group of jailers nicknamed “the Beatles” by their hostages because of their British accent.
At the helm, Federico Motka took over this name. “+ George +, + Ringo + and + John + were there from the first day” and almost until the last, he assured.
“Welcome to Syria, mutt,” one of them shouted when he and his British colleague David Haines were captured on March 12, 2013, immediately setting the tone for the humiliations to come.
After a first month punctuated “with blows here and there and intimidation”, the Italian experienced his first regular beating “with a thick rubber cable” because he had exchanged, against their instructions, with a Syrian prisoner . What followed was the “punishment regime”, the most difficult period of his captivity, which will last until May 2014.
‘Can’t breathe’
Transferred to a prison nicknamed “the Box” because of its cramped conditions, Federico Motka and David Haines were subjected to electrocution sessions, were forced to stay for hours in uncomfortable positions, deprived of food, beaten…
Two journalists, the British John Cantlie and the American James Foley, are in another cell. “We couldn’t see them, but we could hear their cries.” One day, the noises that reach them are different: the “Beatles” subject the journalists to simulations of drowning. The Italian will not escape it. After having his head submerged in a bucket of water, he must remove his sweater. “+ Ringo + pressed it to my face, + George + soaked it with water with a hose, it was impossible to breathe,” he describes.
Another day, the four prisoners are reunited for the first time. “They ordered us to fight amongst ourselves. (…) We were so weak that we barely had the strength to lift our arms, John (Cantlie) and James (Foley) ended up fainting.
At the start of Ramadan, the four men, emaciated and weakened, were transferred to another prison and placed under the supervision of a group of French-speaking jihadists with other European hostages. Better fed, they can talk with their guards without being beaten. It was “a 180 degree turn,” he says.
Cruelty
The “Beatles”, always masked, make a passage in September. “David and I were terrified” to see them again. From November, they will return on a more regular basis as part of their efforts to obtain millions of dollars in ransom: they collect email addresses, take photos or videos to prove that their hostages are still alive…
Their cruelty manifests itself again. One day, they force their hostages to look at photos of a former Russian prisoner. “We could see Sergei’s skull, dead, with bullet holes, and we had to describe it aloud one by one.”
Another time, Federiko Motka and four other Europeans are forced to witness the execution of a Syrian captive. “+George+ was choreographing the scene, +Ringo+ was behind the camera and +John+ was shooting.”
The five hostages hold messages addressed to their loved ones. One of them suggests that without ransom payment, “we will be next”.
The Spaniards, French, Danes, Germans are finally released. He will be on May 25, 2014. But the Americans and the British, whose countries refuse to pay ransoms, will be executed a few months later, and their deaths staged in other propaganda videos.
Their murder earned El Shafee el-Sheikh, arrested in 2018 by Syrian Kurdish forces, to face American justice. For the prosecution, he was “Ringo”. He denies having been one of the “Beatles”, despite damning interviews given to the media before his transfer to the United States. His trial, the first of an IS jihadist of this ilk on American soil, is expected to last at least three weeks.
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