Painful stories continue to emerge from Syria, now that Bashar Al Assad's regime has fallen and people's fear of speaking out has disappeared.
A sad story has recently revealed that a horse racing champion was tortured for more than 21 years in Syrian prisons, for the sole reason that he beat the dictator Assad's brother in a competition, reports A2.
Adnan Kassar, who won several gold medals and led the national show jumping team in the 1980s, was a close friend of Assad and his older brother Bassel.
But their friendship was broken never to return when they faced off in a competition together and Kassar, as expected, was crowned champion.
He says that the crowd lifted him up with cheers, but this was not well received by Bassel and from this moment began his nightmare that lasted for more than 21 years.
Shortly after the race he was arrested, on frivolous charges, which he believes were concocted out of Bassel's jealousy. The champion confesses that for 2 decades from that day he was sent to prisons and was physically and psychologically abused.
The violence against him escalated when Bassel died as Bashar somehow held him responsible for it.
Over the years, many activists took up his case and made several international appeals to try to get him released from prison.
But his name was repeatedly left out of the amnesty decrees and he was left to rot in the many prisons of Syrian hell for 21 years, writes A2.
Kassar was finally released on June 16, 2014, after prolonged pressure from international human rights groups, but has remained silent about his ordeal until now. (A2 Televizion)
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