Rayen Khalfi

On 22 April, Rayen appeared before the court in normal health and expressed remorse, and his lawyer requested his release in view of his young age and clean record, but the request for release was refused despite the judge’s apparent sympathy. On 29 April, his family noticed during a visit that he was unable to recognise them, was speaking incoherently, and had severe bruising around his eyes. On 2 May, his lawyer, Rihab Smaali, visited him and observed multiple physical injuries: three consecutive horizontal lines on his back resembling lash marks, burns on the palm of his left hand resembling cigarette burns, the mark of a large, elongated blow on his right arm, and an abrasion on the palm of his right hand. He also appeared tense, casting frightened glances at the prison guard standing at the door, and spoke incoherently, accusing a person nicknamed “the Bat” (“El Watwat”) of beating him, repeating phrases such as “I am a man, and injustice is forbidden… we are all born of nine months… I want to die”, before beginning to recite the Qur’an. The lawyer tried to meet the prison director or the official in charge of prisoners’ affairs but was met with a categorical refusal; one officer merely informed her that his head had been scanned, that tests had been carried out, and that an appointment had been scheduled for him at Razi Hospital.