ISIS Beatles ‘made prisoners do Royal Rumble style wrestling fights and waterboarded captives during campaign of terror’
THE ISIS "Beatles" made their hostages take part in sick 'Royal Rumble'-style wrestling fights and waterboarded them, a US court has heard.
Four inmates were forced to get into a tag-team boxing match until they passed out, while their Islamic State captors did mock "commentary".
The 'loser' as decided by the captors would be tortured by waterboarding.
Federico Motka, an Italian-born aid worker, described his horrifying 14-month ordeal at the hands of the four Jihadis.
He was giving evidence during the trial of alleged terrorist El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, taking place in Alexandria, Virginia.
Elsheikh is accused of being a member of the 'ISIS Beatles', so-called by their captives because of their British accents.
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Motka testified that there were at least three Brits in the group of captors, nicknamed 'John', 'George', and 'Ringo'.
Elsheikh is accused by prosecutors of being the who was nicknamed Ringo, although others have alleged he was George.
All three routinely wore masks covering everything but their eyes.
In chilling testimony, he claimed Elsheikh, 'George', and 'John' made him and three other prisoners take part in a 'Royal Rumble'-style fight with each other for their pleasure.
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He said the fights took place in a prison he called 'The Box' along with fellow captives James Foley, an American, and Brits John Cantlie and David Haines.
"They called it the Royal Rumble," he said, referring to the annual WWE wrestling event.
Mr Motka went on: "They were so excited, it was the event of the day. They ordered us to get into a tag team-style boxing match.
"James and John were against me and David. If you were too tired you had to tag yourself out."
They were so excited, it was the event of the day
Federico Motka
Motka said the four were forced to fight for a whole hour, despite being so tired and weak that they were "barely able to life our arms".
He said: "James passed out, John passed out. David nearly passed out. Whoever they deemed to have lost the fight would be waterboarded."
Prosecutor Dennis Fitzpatrick asked if the ISIS Beatles did a "play-by-play" commentary on the fight. Mr Motka replied: "They did a Radio 5 Live commentary."
On this occasion, the ISIS fighters decided John Cantile was the winner and Motka had lost but didn't go through with their threat to waterboard him.
However, he suffered torture on other occasions.
He said one of the guards would use a "stun gun" on the hostages' bodies, demanding they put their stomachs or hands through a hole in their cell where he would zap them.
The abuse at the hands of 'The Beatles' ranged from the "ridiculously childish" such as nipple twisting up to waterboarding, Motka said.
He said that Elsheikh and 'John' would "egg each other on," adding: "It was like school kids bullying someone.
Describing the ordeal of waterboarding at the hands of Elsheikh and George, Motka said he was forced to lie on his back over the toilet with a jumper on his face while water was poured on top of it.
"You start to panic a little bit," he said. "I was trying to breathe out the side of my mouth. Once the jumper absorbs the water you start to lose oxygen... water starts to get into your lungs and you start to choke."
At this point, George would always stop the process and say: "That's enough."
THE ISIS 'BEATLES'
The four British ISIS fanatics were dubbed "The Beatles
Alexanda Kotey 'Ringo' (38)
- Raised in Paddington, west London, by Ghanaian and Cypriot parents
- Was a drug dealer prior to his radicalisation
- Converted to Islam in teens, travelling to Gaza in aid convoy in 2009
- Left his two young children behind in Britain to join ISIS
El Shafee El Sheikh 'George' (33)
- Born in Sudan.
- Grew up in west London one of three kids, travelled to Syria in 2012
- QPR fan who worked as a mechanic before radicalisation in early 20s
- Married Ethiopian woman aged 21, angry she couldn't move to UK
Mohammed Emwazi 'John' (27)
- Known as Jihadi John, responsible for executing 7 Western hostages
- Born in Kuwait in 1988, moving to UK with family at age of 6
- Went back to Kuwait at age 21 to work as an IT salesman
- In 2014, he killed American journalist James Foley
- Wiped out in US drone strike in November 2015
Aine Lesley Davis 'Paul' (38)
- Also born in London, he was a drug dealer with firearms convictions
- Converted to Islam and joined ISIS.
- His wife, Amal el-Wahabi, was convicted for smuggling money to him
- Played a smaller role in 'Beatles'
- Sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in Turkey in 2017
Motka said the captives were forced to wear orange jumpsuits with numbers on the back similar to those worn by inmates at Guantanamo Bay, to 'remind' them of the US prison.
George "always spoke about Guantanamo" and the horrific beatings and mistreatment were "his idea of what conditions in Guantanamo were like," he added.
Motka said the four were barely given any food, and usually just ate bread and olives.
Elsheikh's lawyers insist he was just a "simple ISIS fighter" who wasn't involved in the torture carried out by 'The Beatles'.
The British ISIS members tortured and murdered US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as relief workers Peter Kassig and Kayle Mueller.
Foley, Sotloff and Kassig were decapitated, while Mueller was forced into slavery and raped repeatedly by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before being killed as well.
David Haines was also beheaded in September 2014. John Cantlie is still missing and is presumed to be in the hands of the Islamic State, almost a decade after he was kidnapped.
Prosecutors say Elsheikh played a key role in tormenting some 20 Western hostages they kidnapped between 2012 and 2015.
Motka is the first surviving hostage to testify at Elsheikh's trial, which entered its second day on Thursday.
He was kidnapped near a refugee camp on the Turkish border and taken to Syria in March 2013.
Motka was finally released on May 25, 2014, after 14 months in captivity, more than any other 'Beatles' hostage.
Mohammed Emwazi, the ISIS executor known as 'Jihadi John', was killed in a drone strike in 2015, while Alexanda Kotey and Elsheikh were captured in Syria in January 2018 and brought to Virginia to face trial.
Last year, Kotey pleaded guilty in a plea bargain that calls for a life sentence.
Under the agreement, he will serve 15 years in jail in the US and will then be sent to the UK to face further charges.
Elsheikh's charges carry a potential death sentence, but US prosecutors have advised British officials that they will not seek the death penalty against either man.
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He faces an unconditional sentence of life imprisonment.
The trial continues.