British father tells of rats ordeal after being launched from Iraqi jail

A British father who was held in Iraq over an alleged unpaid debt has instructed of the dreadful circumstances he endured in jail the place he noticed rats as huge as cats.

Brian Glendinning, 43, mentioned he “pressed the pause button” on his life throughout two months in jail the place getting by means of the times was simply “survival”.

He had been contracted to work at an oil refinery in Iraq however was arrested on an Interpol purple discover at Baghdad Airport on September 12 over an alleged debt owed to the Qatar Nationwide Financial institution.

The daddy of three was ultimately freed after campaigning by the Interpol and Extradition Reform (Ipex) initiative, and returned to Scotland on November 19.

He described his experiences to Ipex founder Radha Stirling, who hosts the Gulf in Justice Podcast.

Mr Glendinning mentioned rats infested the bogs within the cell he shared, making it exhausting to sleep.

He mentioned: “I regarded and noticed this rat run previous, this factor was the dimensions of a cat. They got here out the bathroom, it was only a gap within the ground.

“Should you’ve seen Trainspotting and the bathroom scene in that, it was 10 occasions worse, it was simply rats all over the place.

“For 4 nights I watched these these rats all evening and by no means slept.”

Whereas he ultimately managed to sleep after realising the rats didn’t depart the bathroom space, he mentioned he needed to endure fixed noise and no sizzling water throughout his time in jail.

He mentioned: “The psychological torture day by day, it was the noise, rabble and voices, a fan, there was a generator proper outdoors the window, the fumes coming from the generator, sore head.”

Mr Glendinning mentioned he noticed police hitting different prisoners and that whereas he was not hit himself, the guards have been “heavy handed” with him, pushing him as he walked alongside.

He mentioned that he initially feared he can be extradited to Qatar and must spend two years in jail.

Requested concerning the worst moments of his ordeal, he instructed Ms Stirling: “The worst factor was the preliminary telephone name again house to inform them that, ‘by the way in which, I’m locked up right here and I don’t assume I’m getting out’.

“After which after I really managed to pay money for the official paperwork and browse the phrases ‘you have been sentenced to 2 years in jail in Qatar in 2017 in your absence, Qatar needed you extradited’, and my world simply fell aside.

“I’d already mounted in my head the telephone name to Kimberley (his spouse) saying, ‘hear, simply get on with life, I’m not going to be there, don’t even hassle popping out right here to see me’. I didn’t need the children popping out right here, I principally simply wrote myself off then.

“Once I obtained in there I pressed the pause button on my life, and after I obtained again out I pressed play once more, however I assumed that pause button was going to be on lots longer than what it was.

“That wasn’t life in there, to me, that was survival, an existence, and it’s one thing I don’t wish to keep in mind once more, that’s why I pressed pause.”

Mr Glendinning, from Kincardine, Fife, mentioned he’s extremely grateful to family and friends and everybody who labored to carry him house.

He mentioned: “The very best time was the day I heard I used to be getting out, I by no means even knew it was coming. And after that it was when the aircraft touched down at Edinburgh Airport and I knew I used to be house.”

Ms Stirling mentioned: “I’m privileged to have been capable of assist this pricey household who I’ve come to know.

“I’m grateful for his or her vitality and dedication in supporting the marketing campaign to free Brian.”