- Javier Espinosa spent months at the mercy of ISIS extremists in Syria
- The Spanish journalist was kidnapped alongside his colleague in 2013
- Among his captors was Jihadi John who 'wanted maximum drama'
- 'Psychotic' British terrorist threatened him with execution with a sword
- Mr Espinosa and his colleague were moved between the group's 'prisons'
- Unlike others held at the properties they were not beaten or tortured
- He and photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were freed in March 2013
Published:
01:57 GMT, 15 March 2015
|
Updated:
12:56 GMT, 15 March 2015166
shares
A
kidnapped journalist who survived Jihadi John has told of the
blood-chilling moment the British extremist ran the cold blade of a
sword across his neck in a mock execution at an ISIS prison.
Javier
Espinosa, a Spaniard captured alongside colleagues while reporting the
conflict between President Assad's regime and militant soldiers in 2013,
was freed last year after a deal was brokered between his government
and front-line extremists.
He
had spent months at the mercy of Mohammed Emwazi, the British hooded
executioner now ominously referred to as Jihadi John, and other
terrorists while in captivity.
Scroll down for video
Freed: The moment journalist Javier
Espinosa was reunited with his son on the tarmac of a Spanish airport
after spending months in the captivity of ISIS terrorists
Now,
a year after his emotional reunion with his children on the tarmac of a
Spanish airport, the correspondent has revealed the depths of horror he
and dozens of other hostages faced daily.
In an harrowing account printed by the Sunday Times,
he relives the moment Emwazi, now the world's most wanted man, ran the
cold blade of a sword across his neck, threatening execution.
'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,"' Mr Espinosa wrote.
It
was, he continued, one of 'several episodes of psychological and
physical torture, privations and humiliations' prisoners endured.
Emwazi,
who 'wanted maximum drama', was among 'psychotic' extremists who
pillaged the Spaniard's belongings to put towards a haul of stolen cash
apparently so large there were rooms filled with millions of dollars.
It
was, he continued, one of 'several episodes of psychological and
physical torture, privations and humiliations' prisoners endured.
Mr
Espinosa was snatched with his colleague photographer Ricardo Garcia
Vilanova when the pair were working near the Turkish border in 2013.
Mr Espinosa and his colleague Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were kept alongside other hostages for months
Emwazi (right before joining extremists in Syria and left in his trademark hood) was among Mr Espinosa's captors
Alongside
American journalists and aid workers including Britons Alan Henning and
David Haines, they were locked in ISIS prisons - as Mr Espinosa
describes them 'elegant mansions' and the former government headquarters
in Raqqa - across the war-ravaged country for months.
While
their comrades have all but been murdered - John Cantlie is seemingly
still alive but in the group's clutches - the two Spaniards were freed,
spared to tell the world of the group's atrocities.
Among
the most horrifying anecdotes was a threat to exhume the body of
murdered Russian engineer Sergei Gorbunov and make remaining hostages
sleep next to his bullet-riddled head.
'They
liked scaring their captives, forcing us to look at photos of Sergei
Gorbanov..."You might end up with him,' recalled Mr Espinosa.
If I had doubted it before, this encounter confirmed the psychopathic character of our interrogators
'"We'll make you dig him up and put you in another tomb where you can sleep with him."'
Being
woken by the screams of other hostages as they were tortured in their
cells was commonplace. On one occasion, the Spaniard notes, a young boy
was beaten to a pulp after being caught smoking - a forbidden habit
under oppressive Sharia law.
The European and American hostages who disappeared had been either freed or moved, Mr Espinosa claims to have been told.
Instead they were being picked off one by own, their deaths showcased to the world in barbaric propaganda videos.
While
the journalist doesn't describe in depth any hopes he had of escaping,
he revealed that asking his captors how to pray was among his first
actions once taken.
In
March last year Mr Espinosa, a veteran journalist for the Spanish
national newspaper El Mundo, and Mr Vilanova were taken into the care of
Turkish authorities after six months of captivity.
Once across the border he contacted his newspaper and his wife who later tweeted: 'Pure happiness'.
To secure his release the Spanish government is understood to have paid a sum to the terror group.
France,
Italy, and Germany are other countries to have complied with extremists
demands to ensure the release of kidnapped citizens.
Britain and the U.S. are the only two to have stayed true to a UN agreement not to give in to such requests.
As a result, jihadis claim, a handful of journalists and aid workers from both countries have been slaughtered.
His first victim:
American journalist James Foley was the first Western citizen to have
been killed on film by Jihadi John in a sickening propaganda video
Slaughtered:
Britons Alan Henning (left) and David Haines (right) are among the
hostages who were savagely murdered by the group
HOW KUWAITI-BORN BRIT MOHAMMED EMWAZI GREW INTO JIHADI JOHN: THE WORLD'S MOST REPUGNANT TERRORIST
Mohammed Emwazi was unmasked as Jihadi John
The
son of a Kuwaiti minicab driver, young Emwazi arrived in Britain
speaking only a few words of English, and appeared more interested in
football than in Islam.
He
went to mosque with his family, who spoke Arabic to each other, but
wore Western clothing and became popular with his British classmates at
St Mary Magdalene Church of England primary school in Maida Vale, West
London.
After
finishing primary school in 1999, young Mohammed moved to Quintin
Kynaston Community Academy, in St John’s Wood, where he is believed to
have studied alongside former X Factor judge and pop star Tulisa
Contostavlos.
Once
there, he became more observant of his religion and began wearing more
traditional Islamic dress, and his sisters began to wear the hijab.
The
university has since been linked with several proponents of radical
Islam, and Emwazi appeared to have fallen under their sway.
He
began attending different mosques and was known to associate with Bilal
el-Berjawi, who was killed by a drone strike in Somalia three years
ago.
In
August 2009, after his graduation, Emwazi flew to Tanzania in East
Africa with friends and told authorities they were going on a wildlife
safari.
But
the group was refused entry and put on a plane to the Netherlands,
where Emwazi later claimed he was questioned by an MI5 agent called
Nick.
The
British officer accused him of planning to travel to Somalia to join
the militant group Al Shabaab, he said, and said MI5 had been watching
him.
Emwazi
denied the accusation – bragging that he would not take a designer
Rocawear sweater in his luggage if he was planning to join Somalian
rebels.
In
emails to the campaign group Cage, Emwazi said: ‘He [Nick] knew
everything about me; where I lived, what I did, the people I hanged
around with.’
‘Nick’ then tried to recruit the 21-year-old, Emwazi claimed, and threatened him when he refused to cooperate.
Emwazi
said the officer told him: ‘You’re going to have a lot of
trouble…You’re going to be known…You’re going to be followed…Life will
be harder for you.’
On
his return to Britain, Emwazi said his family told him they had been
‘visited’, and he claimed a woman he had been planning to marry broke
off their engagement because her family had also been contacted and were
scared.
According
to Emwazi, his family then began planning for him to travel to Kuwait
to get him away from the ‘harassment’ he had suffered in Britain and he
went to work for a computer programming company in the emirate.
In 2013 after changing his name by deed poll he made another attempt to enter Kuwait but was rejected.
Disappearing
from home he was not seen again until appearing in ISIS propaganda
films, his face masked as he slit the throats of innocents.
His identity was revealed last month. He has not appeared in online footage since.
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