… “A week later, on 14 October 2023, they started a campaign of revenge against the inmates. It started with all of us being taken out of our cells and made to stand outside while the guards searched them. While we were standing outside, the guards pounced on us and started hitting and kicking us. When the search was over, they put us back in different cells than the ones we were in before.
The switching of cells was repeated. They’d take us out of our rooms about three times a week, on different days. Every time they took us out, the rooms were searched and we were beaten, kicked and punched by the guards.
On 7 October itself, the prison administration cut off the electricity in the cells and wings. It stayed that way until the day I was released.
They also confiscated the inmates’ belongings: kettles, hotplates, clothes. They left us only the clothes we had on.
Until 7 October, there were five inmates in every cell. After that day, they brought in 10 more and crammed 15 of us into one cell.
Some inmates have chronic conditions and need medication. The prison administration used to give them the medication, but after 7 October, they stopped providing it. It was revenge in the form of collective punishment.
The guards started humiliating the inmates and undermining their dignity. When they came to take someone out of a cell, they’d blindfold him and force him to bend over and raise his hands over his head, so he’d walk out hunched over, without seeing anything. Meanwhile, the guards would swear at him.
Until 7 October, the inmates would cook food in the prison kitchen for all the prisoners. After that day, it was forbidden. The prison administration started giving out food that was so bad it was humiliating, and in tiny portions. For example, over an entire day, each person got: seven spoonfuls of rice, one hard-boiled egg or a hotdog, a 50 ml container of yogurt, a tomato or cucumber or green pepper, three spoonfuls of cooked beans or a small plate of lentils, and seven slices of bread. That was supposed to last the whole day. They were punishing us for things we didn’t do.
When I was arrested, on 1 March 2022, I weighed 91 kg. When I was released, on 15 March 2024, I weighed myself and was surprised to find out I weighed only 55 kg! I lost tens of kilos because of the poor quality and small quantities of food we were given after 7 October.” …