Freed Syrian prisoner recounts harrowing experience in Assad's Saydnaya prison
“We didn’t know that Bashar al-Assad’s regime had collapsed. We used to say that the collapse of the Assad regime was only a dream, but yesterday we heard it had fallen. We were so happy.”
Dec. 17, 2024
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A Syrian prisoner, who was recently freed from Saydnaya Prison near Damascus, shared his disturbing experience with Kurdistan24, exposing the brutal conditions and suffering he and other inmates endured in the haunting Saydnaya prison.
“Last night, Tahrir al-Sham came and freed us,” the former detainee recounted. “We were jailed underground. There was a room called the 'red room.' Even my cell was two floors underground.”
The prisoner described the moment he heard of the regime's collapse.
“We didn’t know that Bashar al-Assad’s regime had collapsed. We used to say that the collapse of the Assad regime was only a dream, but yesterday we heard it had fallen. We were so happy.”
The prisoner, who had been held in Saydnaya since 2017, recollected the agony he faced.
“The food was very bad. They beat us with pipes, electricity, and wires. The first time they took me to the prison, they electrocuted me in the reception room,” he recalled.
He also explained the manner surrounding the death of a fellow inmate.
“I saw a 16-year-old prisoner who was beaten so badly he couldn’t even lift his head. He died under torture. God forgive him,” he stated.
The conditions in Saydnaya prison, infamous for its human rights abuses, were cruel and inhumane. Prisoners reportedly received minimal food, with the freed man recalling, “They gave us half or one loaf of bread every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.”
The prison held prisoners from various nationalities, including Syrians, Iraqis, Japanese, Iranians, and Pakistanis, alongside many Kurds who had been transported there from Hasakah and other regions.
Saydnaya Prison has long been linked with severe torture, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings under the Assad regime, serving as an appalling reminder of its ruthless legacy.
The prisoner’s testament sheds light on the horrors experienced by thousands who suffered behind its walls.