A former equestrian champion was reportedly tortured in a Syrian prison for 21 years after beating dictator Bashar al Assad’s older brother in a competition.
Adnan Kassar, who won several gold medals in the 1980s and captained the national equestrian team, was a close friend of Assad, whose older brother Bassel was also a fellow equestrian.
Bassel was the original heir apparent to the Syrian presidency before he was killed in a car crash in 1994, prompting Assad to return from London, where he worked as an ophthalmologist, to take on the political role.
But Kassar and Assad’s friendship would take a turn when the pair battled each other and Kassar emerged victorious.
Speaking to Sky News about the dire consequences he faced following the collapse of Assad’s brutal regime, he recalled how the crowd lifted him onto their shoulders after he won the match, describing it as a moment of pure joy.
“It wasn’t the same for Bassel,” Kassar said. “That day marked the beginning of my nightmare.”
After the match, Kassar was arrested on vague charges that he believes were made up by a jealous Bassel.
The former champion told the news channel how his detention turned into a decades-long ordeal filled with brutality and psychological abuse.
Adnan Kassar, pictured, who won several gold medals in the 1980s and captained the national equestrian team, was a close friend of Assad, whose older brother Bassel was also a fellow equestrian
The friendship between Kassar and Assad would take a turn when the pair battled against each other and Kassar emerged victorious.
Bassel (pictured center) was the original heir apparent to the Syrian presidency before he was killed in a car accident in 1994, prompting Assad to return from London, where he was working as an ophthalmologist, to take on the political role.
Kassar claims he was initially held underground for six months while suffering severe physical abuse at the hands of Assad’s men.
He was then transferred to Syria’s infamous Sednaya prison, dubbed the “human slaughterhouse,” where he said “the torture only got worse.”
Assad previously denied both the killing of thousands of prisoners in Sednaya and the use of a secret crematorium to dispose of their remains in 2017.
Many detainees have revealed that they have been raped during their captivity and in some cases forced to rape other prisoners.
Torture and severe beatings by guards were used as a regular form of punishment and humiliation, often causing individuals to suffer lifelong damage, disability and even death.
According to a 2017 Amnesty report, cell floors were covered in blood and pus from injured prisoners, with the corpses of dead prisoners collected by prison guards every morning at 9am.
But with no end in sight, Kassar then explained how the terrible treatment intensified after Bassel’s sudden death.
“They blamed me for his death, and every year on the anniversary of his death the torture became more severe,” he said.
After enduring the harsh conditions in Sednaya, Kassar was then transferred to Tadmur prison, where he spent seven and a half years.
The military prison (pictured from an aerial photo) is known for its inhumane conditions, systematic torture and mass executions
Nooses were found after rebel fighters liberated the Sednaya military prison near Damascus
Ropes are scattered across the floor of the prison, which has become infamous for its brutal treatment of prisoners
People kick a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Syrian army leadership informed officers that al-Assad’s 24-year rule had ended
He recalled that Assad’s men pierced his ear one morning before breaking his jaw in the evening, with actions such as praying that were punishable by severe punishment.
‘Because I prayed, they flogged me a thousand times. My feet were torn apart, my bones exposed,” Kassar told the news station.
Over the years, many activists have raised his case and several international appeals have been made in an attempt to free him from captivity.
But his name was repeatedly omitted from amnesty decrees, and he was left behind in numerous Syrian prisons for more than two decades.
Kassar was eventually released on June 16, 2014, after sustained pressure from international human rights groups, but he has remained silent about his ordeal until now.
“After years of imprisonment, torture and injustice, the revolution finally overthrew the dictatorial regime,” he added.
But Assad’s atrocities and human rights abuses spread beyond prison walls after UN weapons inspectors returned “overwhelming and indisputable” evidence of nerve agent use in Syria in 2013.
Assad has faced calls for international military action against his government following alleged chemical weapons attacks on the outskirts of Damascus.
Subsequently, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the August 21 attack “the worst use of weapons of mass destruction in the 21st century.”
The United States said the attack may have killed more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of civilians.
The Syrian opposition accused pro-Assad forces of carrying out the attacks, but Assad denied using chemical weapons and claimed that, if such weapons had been used, the rebels were to blame.
Assad’s tactics against the rebels continued to draw international condemnation even as his forces refrained from using chemical weapons.