British father-of-three held in Baghdad jail says his cell was infested with rats ‘as big as cats’
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A British father detained in Iraq over an alleged unpaid debt has told of the terrible conditions he endured in prison where he saw rats as big as cats.
Brian Glendinning, 43, said he hit the ‘pause button’ on his life during two months in prison, where getting through the days was just ‘surviving’.
He was contracted to work at an oil refinery in Iraq, but was arrested on September 12 on an Interpol red notice at Baghdad airport over an alleged debt to the Qatar National Bank.
The father-of-three was eventually released after a campaign by the Interpol and Extradition Reform (IPEX) initiative and returned to Scotland on November 19.
Scottish construction engineer Brian Glendinning, 43, arrives back at Edinburgh airport after being released from two months in Iraq
Glendinning with his wife and daughters after arriving at Edinburgh airport following his release from Iraqi prison for two months
Glendinning is greeted by his mother Meta after arriving in Edinburgh
He described his experiences to Ipex founder Radha Stirling, who hosts the Gulf in Justice Podcast.
Mr Glendinning said rats infested the toilets in the cell he shared, making it difficult to sleep.
He said, ‘I looked and saw this rat running by, this thing was the size of a cat. They came out of the toilet, it was just a hole in the floor.
“If you saw Trainspotting and the toilet scene in it, it was 10 times worse, it was rats everywhere.
“For four nights I watched these rats all night and never slept.”
Although he eventually managed to sleep after realizing the rats weren’t leaving the toilet cubicle, he says he endured constant noise and no hot water during his time in prison.
He said, “The mental torture every day, it was the noise, the mob and the voices, a fan, there was a generator right outside the window, the fumes coming from the generator, sore head.”
The father-of-three, who had worked at an oil refinery in Iraq, was arrested at Baghdad airport on Sept. 12 on an Interpol red notice for alleged debt to the National Bank of Qatar.
Glendenning is met by wife Kimberly and daughter Lexi at Edinburgh Airport
Mr Glendinning said he saw police beating other prisoners and that although he himself was not hit, the guards were ‘heavy handed’ to him and shoved him as he walked on.
He said he initially feared he would be extradited to Qatar and face two years in prison.
Asked about the worst moments of his ordeal, he told Mrs Stirling: ‘The worst part was the first phone call home to tell them that ‘by the way, I’m locked up here and I don’t think I’ve gotten out’.
And when I managed to get my hands on the official papers and read the words ‘you were sentenced to two years in prison in Qatar in your absence in 2017, Qatar wanted you extradited’, and my world came crashing down.
“I had already fixed the call to Kimberley (his wife) in my head saying, ‘Listen, just get on with life, I won’t be there, don’t even bother coming here to see me’.” I didn’t want the kids to come here, I just wrote myself off then.
“When I got there I hit the pause button on my life, and when I got out I hit play again, but I thought that pause button was going to be on for a lot longer than it was.
“That wasn’t a life in there, that was survival, an existence, and it’s something I don’t want to remember, so I pressed pause.”
Mr Glendinning, from Kincardine, Fife, said he is incredibly grateful to his friends and family and everyone who worked to bring him home.
He said: ‘The best moment was the day I heard I was released, I didn’t even know it was coming. And then the plane landed at Edinburgh Airport and I knew I was home.’
Mrs Stirling said: ‘I am privileged to have been able to help this dear family that I have come to know.
“I am grateful for their energy and dedication in supporting the campaign to free Brian.”