JEDDAH: Saudi Ahmed Al-Banaqi, a former detainee in Iraqi prisons, refuted Iraqi Ministry of Justice statements about the death of Saudi detainee Nasser Al-Mubarak Al-Dossari in Nasiriyah prison in Dhi Qar governorate, south of Baghdad.
Al-Banaqi stressed that Al-Dossari was not having any health problems, contrary to the Iraqi Ministry of Justice’s claim that he died of kidney failure.
Al-Banaqi said that Al-Dossari probably died under torture, a statement that raises concern over the fate of 57 Saudis in Iraqi prisons, of whom some were executed and others were announced dead.
Al-Banaqi told “Ya Hala” program on Rotana Khalijiah TV that he went to visit his family in Baghdad only to find himself taken to an Iraqi prison.
“I got cleared by the Iraqi intelligence and government three months before coming to Iraq in 2012, but I was arrested because my 2011 visa ‘identified the reason for my visit to Iraq as one to visit the holy sites, despite the fact that they knew I am Sunni.’”
He said that in the Iraqi detention prisons there are no human rights, “not even the toilets,” and he “was interrogated by Iranian officers.”
Al-Banaqi met some Saudi detainees in Iraq, Majid Al-Buqami, Kottab Al-Otaibi and Ghazi Al-Harbi, “who were over 80 and tortured as if they were young.”
The prisoners in Iraqi jails, said Al-Banaqi, are tortured in many notorious, inhumane, ways, including electric shocks and suffocation with bags until the prisoner loses consciousness, after which they pour water over him and as soon as he regains consciousness, they suffocate him again until he loses consciousness again.
He said he lost consciousness four times in one torture session, while Saudi detainee Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani’s back was broken due to torture.
“I was with the detainee Nasser Al-Dossari and he was in good health. I think that the cause of his death was torture,” he reiterated.
Al-Banaqi said that “we, the Saudi detainees, were tortured more severely than others.
There was a squad called the “dirty squad” that was torturing us starting at 10:00 p.m. until the morning,” he added.
Saudi prisoners were being tormented for the most trivial reasons.
“When Saudi Arabia defeated Iraq in a football game, they beat and suffocated us.”
He escaped from the Iraqi prison “after tribesmen revolted in Mosul. I ran 15 kilometers until I arrived at the Saudi Embassy, then the Crown Prince was notified.”
Al-Banaqi expressed great appreciation for His Highness the Crown Prince’s humanitarian gesture, saying: “Prince Mohammed bin Naif reacted to my case within half an hour.”
“I went out through Syria to Turkey, and then I was received by a Saudi Embassy car. I was delighted when I saw the Saudi flag,” he said
Al-Banaqi stressed that Al-Dossari was not having any health problems, contrary to the Iraqi Ministry of Justice’s claim that he died of kidney failure.
Al-Banaqi said that Al-Dossari probably died under torture, a statement that raises concern over the fate of 57 Saudis in Iraqi prisons, of whom some were executed and others were announced dead.
Al-Banaqi told “Ya Hala” program on Rotana Khalijiah TV that he went to visit his family in Baghdad only to find himself taken to an Iraqi prison.
“I got cleared by the Iraqi intelligence and government three months before coming to Iraq in 2012, but I was arrested because my 2011 visa ‘identified the reason for my visit to Iraq as one to visit the holy sites, despite the fact that they knew I am Sunni.’”
He said that in the Iraqi detention prisons there are no human rights, “not even the toilets,” and he “was interrogated by Iranian officers.”
Al-Banaqi met some Saudi detainees in Iraq, Majid Al-Buqami, Kottab Al-Otaibi and Ghazi Al-Harbi, “who were over 80 and tortured as if they were young.”
The prisoners in Iraqi jails, said Al-Banaqi, are tortured in many notorious, inhumane, ways, including electric shocks and suffocation with bags until the prisoner loses consciousness, after which they pour water over him and as soon as he regains consciousness, they suffocate him again until he loses consciousness again.
He said he lost consciousness four times in one torture session, while Saudi detainee Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani’s back was broken due to torture.
“I was with the detainee Nasser Al-Dossari and he was in good health. I think that the cause of his death was torture,” he reiterated.
Al-Banaqi said that “we, the Saudi detainees, were tortured more severely than others.
There was a squad called the “dirty squad” that was torturing us starting at 10:00 p.m. until the morning,” he added.
Saudi prisoners were being tormented for the most trivial reasons.
“When Saudi Arabia defeated Iraq in a football game, they beat and suffocated us.”
He escaped from the Iraqi prison “after tribesmen revolted in Mosul. I ran 15 kilometers until I arrived at the Saudi Embassy, then the Crown Prince was notified.”
Al-Banaqi expressed great appreciation for His Highness the Crown Prince’s humanitarian gesture, saying: “Prince Mohammed bin Naif reacted to my case within half an hour.”
“I went out through Syria to Turkey, and then I was received by a Saudi Embassy car. I was delighted when I saw the Saudi flag,” he said
