Palestinian Prisoners Used Coca Cola to Escape Gilboa Prison

Gilboa prison, from which the Palestinian prisoners escaped. (EPA)
Gilboa prison, from which the Palestinian prisoners escaped. (EPA)
TT

Palestinian Prisoners Used Coca Cola to Escape Gilboa Prison

Gilboa prison, from which the Palestinian prisoners escaped. (EPA)
Gilboa prison, from which the Palestinian prisoners escaped. (EPA)

A report on the escape of six Palestinian prisoners from the Gilboa prison in early September has indicated that they likely crumbled the concrete on the floor of the cell using acid or Coca Cola soft drink.

The Israeli Army’s Combat Engineering Corps issued a report showing that the escape route of the prisoners included lifting a marble slab in the shower cubicle and digging a tunnel shaft through layers of steel and concrete to the space below.

“The prisoners dug a tunnel shaft under a marble slab in the shower cubicle, passing through the top tin (5 mm of steel) and through the ground floor (20 cm of concrete) into the underground space,” the report read.

It pointed to the fact that the concrete can be weakened and crumbled over time by using various acids, without the use of special means, “a cola drink can be used.”

“The length of the escape tunnel is about 35 meters, 29 meters of which they dug themselves, with an average diameter of 0.5 meters, which includes around 5-6 cubic meters of soil, they gradually disposed through the sewers.”

“The excavation material was used to line the excavated route inside the spaces of the link beams, saving the need to evacuate the excavation material into the prison,” it explained.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Prison Service (IPS) transferred the prisoners, who will be indicted on Sunday, to solitary confinement in various prisons.

According to Karim Ajwa, a lawyer in the Palestinian Authority's Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Committee, Mahmoud al-Ardah has been placed in a small and dirty cell in Ashkelon prison.

He is being monitored constantly in solitary confinement, including when he uses the toilet, depriving him of privacy.

He is considering a hunger strike if his prison conditions worsen in the coming days, Ajwa stressed.

Zakaria Zubeidi is being held in the notorious desert prison of Eshel in the Negev, in southern Israel, Ajwa said, while Ayham Kamةji has been moved to solitary confinement in Ohli Kedar prison, also in the Negev, Yaqoub Qadri to Rimonim prison and Munadel Nfeiat and Mahmoud Abdullah Ardah to Ayalon prison in Ramla.



Family of Murdered Libyan Calls for Retrial of Saadi Gaddafi

 
File photo of Saadi Gaddafi (AFP)
File photo of Saadi Gaddafi (AFP)
TT

Family of Murdered Libyan Calls for Retrial of Saadi Gaddafi

 
File photo of Saadi Gaddafi (AFP)
File photo of Saadi Gaddafi (AFP)

The family of the murdered Libyan footballer Bashir Al-Riani has vowed not to “forfeit his blood” after the country’s Supreme Court overturned the acquittal of Saadi Gaddafi in the case.

The Tripoli Court of Appeals in April 2018 had acquitted the son of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi of charges related to Al-Riani’s torture and murder in 2005. Despite the acquittal, Saadi remained imprisoned until his release on Sept. 6 2021, after which he reportedly left for Turkiye.

In a video statement, Al-Riani’s son announced that the Supreme Court had overturned Saadi’s acquittal and accepted an appeal against it, returning the case to the Tripoli Court of Appeals. He asserted this decision as proof of Saadi’s guilt and vowed to pursue justice until the trial is completed.

While no comment was issued by Saadi’s supporters regarding the Supreme Court’s decision, Ahmed Nashad, a Libyan lawyer and head of the defense team for Abdullah Senussi, former intelligence chief under Gaddafi, explained that overturning Saadi’s acquittal requires a new trial before the Tripoli Court of Appeals.

Al-Riani was found dead in 2005 near Saadi’s seaside residence. Saadi was accused of torturing and killing him, though accounts of the incident vary widely.

In June 2014, former Attorney General Abdelkader Jumaa Radwan referred Saadi’s case to the indictment chamber of the North Tripoli Primary Court after concluding the investigation.

Saadi, 50, was a former football player. He tried in vain to establish a football career in the Italian League, before leading an elite military unit.

Some Libyans, who oppose the Gaddafi regime, say that Saadi heard Al-Riani saying that the man was not talented at football. Meanwhile, another unreliable story states that Al-Riani was drunk and refused to obey Saadi’s guards, so they shot him. This story is denied by the victim’s family.

A former political official close to the Government of National Unity said that Saadi’s release was likely politically motivated, part of broader efforts to free several former regime figures. He noted that many Gaddafi loyalists remain imprisoned despite court orders for their release.