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THE ISIS “Beatles” made their hostages participate in sick ‘Royal Rumble’-style wrestling fights and waterboarded them, a US courtroom has heard.
4 inmates have been compelled to get right into a tag-team boxing match till they handed out, whereas their Islamic State captors did mock “commentary”.
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The ‘loser’ as determined by the captors could be tortured by waterboarding.
Federico Motka, an Italian-born support employee, described his horrifying 14-month ordeal by the hands of the 4 Jihadis.
He was giving proof throughout the trial of alleged terrorist El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, happening in Alexandria, Virginia.
Elsheikh is accused of being a member of the ‘ISIS Beatles’, so-called by their captives due to their British accents.
Motka testified that there have been no less than three Brits within the group of captors, nicknamed ‘John’, ‘George’, and ‘Ringo’.
Elsheikh is accused by prosecutors of being the who was nicknamed Ringo, though others have alleged he was George.
All three routinely wore masks overlaying every little thing however their eyes.
In chilling testimony, he claimed Elsheikh, ‘George’, and ‘John’ made him and three different prisoners participate in a ‘Royal Rumble’-style struggle with one another for his or her pleasure.
He stated the fights occurred in a jail he known as ‘The Field’ together with fellow captives James Foley, an American, and Brits John Cantlie and David Haines.
“They known as it the Royal Rumble,” he stated, referring to the annual WWE wrestling occasion.
Mr Motka went on: “They have been so excited, it was the occasion of the day. They ordered us to get right into a tag team-style boxing match.
“James and John have been towards me and David. When you have been too drained you needed to tag your self out.”
They have been so excited, it was the occasion of the day
Federico Motka
Motka stated the 4 have been compelled to struggle for a complete hour, regardless of being so drained and weak that they have been “barely in a position to life our arms”.
He stated: “James handed out, John handed out. David practically handed out. Whoever they deemed to have misplaced the struggle could be waterboarded.”
Prosecutor Dennis Fitzpatrick requested if the ISIS Beatles did a “play-by-play” commentary on the struggle. Mr Motka replied: “They did a Radio 5 Dwell commentary.”
On this event, the ISIS fighters determined John Cantile was the winner and Motka had misplaced however did not undergo with their risk to waterboard him.
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Nevertheless, he suffered torture on different events.
He stated one of many guards would use a “stun gun” on the hostages’ our bodies, demanding they put their stomachs or arms by a gap of their cell the place he would zap them.
The abuse by the hands of ‘The Beatles’ ranged from the “ridiculously infantile” similar to nipple twisting as much as waterboarding, Motka stated.
He stated that Elsheikh and ‘John’ would “egg one another on,” including: “It was like faculty children bullying somebody.
Describing the ordeal of waterboarding by the hands of Elsheikh and George, Motka stated he was compelled to lie on his again over the bathroom with a jumper on his face whereas water was poured on high of it.
“You begin to panic just a little bit,” he stated. “I used to be making an attempt to breathe out the aspect of my mouth. As soon as the jumper absorbs the water you begin to lose oxygen… water begins to get into your lungs and also you begin to choke.”
At this level, George would all the time cease the method and say: “That is sufficient.”
THE ISIS ‘BEATLES’
The 4 British ISIS fanatics have been dubbed “The Beatles
Alexanda Kotey ‘Ringo’ (38)
- Raised in Paddington, west London, by Ghanaian and Cypriot dad and mom
- Was a drug seller previous to his radicalisation
- Transformed to Islam in teenagers, travelling to Gaza in support convoy in 2009
- Left his two younger youngsters behind in Britain to affix ISIS
El Shafee El Sheikh ‘George’ (33)
- Born in Sudan.
- Grew up in west London one in every of three children, travelled to Syria in 2012
- QPR fan who labored as a mechanic earlier than radicalisation in early 20s
- Married Ethiopian girl aged 21, offended she could not transfer to UK
Mohammed Emwazi ‘John’ (27)
- Often called Jihadi John, chargeable for executing 7 Western hostages
- Born in Kuwait in 1988, shifting to UK with household at age of 6
- Went again to Kuwait at age 21 to work as an IT salesman
- In 2014, he killed American journalist James Foley
- Worn out in US drone strike in November 2015
Aine Lesley Davis ‘Paul’ (38)
- Additionally born in London, he was a drug seller with firearms convictions
- Transformed to Islam and joined ISIS.
- His spouse, Amal el-Wahabi, was convicted for smuggling cash to him
- Performed a smaller function in ‘Beatles’
- Sentenced to seven and a half years in jail in Turkey in 2017
Motka stated the captives have been compelled to put on orange jumpsuits with numbers on the again much like these worn by inmates at Guantanamo Bay, to ‘remind’ them of the US jail.
George “all the time spoke about Guantanamo” and the horrific beatings and mistreatment have been “his thought of what situations in Guantanamo have been like,” he added.
Motka stated the 4 have been barely given any meals, and normally simply ate bread and olives.
Elsheikh’s legal professionals insist he was only a “easy ISIS fighter” who wasn’t concerned within the torture carried out by ‘The Beatles’.
The British ISIS members tortured and murdered US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, in addition to aid staff Peter Kassig and Kayle Mueller.
Foley, Sotloff and Kassig have been decapitated, whereas Mueller was compelled into slavery and raped repeatedly by Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi earlier than being killed as effectively.
David Haines was additionally beheaded in September 2014. John Cantlie remains to be lacking and is presumed to be within the arms of the Islamic State, virtually a decade after he was kidnapped.
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Prosecutors say Elsheikh performed a key function in tormenting some 20 Western hostages they kidnapped between 2012 and 2015.
Motka is the primary surviving hostage to testify at Elsheikh’s trial, which entered its second day on Thursday.
He was kidnapped close to a refugee camp on the Turkish border and brought to Syria in March 2013.
Motka was lastly launched on Could 25, 2014, after 14 months in captivity, greater than every other ‘Beatles’ hostage.
Mohammed Emwazi, the ISIS executor often known as ‘Jihadi John’, was killed in a drone strike in 2015, whereas Alexanda Kotey and Elsheikh have been captured in Syria in January 2018 and dropped at Virginia to face trial.
Final yr, Kotey pleaded responsible in a plea cut price that requires a life sentence.
Beneath the settlement, he’ll serve 15 years in jail within the US and can then be despatched to the UK to face additional expenses.
Elsheikh’s expenses carry a possible loss of life sentence, however US prosecutors have suggested British officers that they is not going to search the loss of life penalty towards both man.
He faces an unconditional sentence of life imprisonment.
The trial continues.
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