Jordanian prisoner freed after 38 years in regime prisons in Syria

AMMAN, Jordan

A Jordanian prisoner reunited with his family on Tuesday after 38 years in regime prisons in Syria without charges.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufian al-Qudah said Osama Bashir Batayneh crossed the Jaber border crossing with Syria into Jordan, where his identity was verified before being reunited with his family.

According to his family, Batayneh was arrested in 1986 during his visit to Syria as a student and had since been unheard of.

The spokesman said Batayneh was released from Sednaya Prison, notorious for torture under the fallen regime of Bashar al-Assad.

“He is in a tragic condition and suffers memory loss,” he added.

Thousands of prisoners were released from prisons in Syria after anti-regime groups captured the capital Damascus on Sunday.

Assad and his family fled to Russia, where they were given asylum, marking the collapse of the Baath Party regime, which had been in power in Syria since 1963.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar