Blake Hall
According to a former ISIS prisoner — journalist Javier Espinosa — the militant religious extremists built a high-security penitentiary in Syria to mock the United States and Guantanamo Bay.
In September of 2013, Espinosa and photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were both abducted by the terror group while working near the Turkish border. A year later they were released with strict instructions that if they divulged any information regarding the prison, the rest of the hostages would be executed.
The reporter is at long last speaking publicly about the dreadful ordeal, telling The Sunday Times that of the 23 prisoners the facility held when he was there, 15 have been released while six have been executed.
While imprisoned, ISIS tortured them both physically and psychologically, frequently showing them the gruesome murder video of Sergei Gorbunov, a Russian engineer.
Espinosa also disclosed that the now infamous London native “Jihadi John” was one of the guards at the facility.
“Jihadi John wanted maximum drama,” he remembered. “He had brought along an antique sword of the kind Muslim armies used in the Middle Ages. It was a blade of almost a meter in length with a silver handle.”
“He caressed my neck with the blade but kept talking: ‘Feel it? Cold, isn’t it? Can you imagine the pain you’ll feel when it cuts? Unimaginable pain,’” Espinosa said.
“After finishing with the sword he holstered his pistol, a Glock. He placed it against my head and pulled the trigger three times. Click. Click. Click. It’s called a mock execution. But not even this terrifying intimidation seemed to satisfy them.”