Rayan Khalfi

Inside Prison

On 22 April, Rayan appeared before the court in a normal state of health and expressed his remorse. His lawyer requested his release in view of his young age and clean record, but the request for release was rejected despite the judge's apparent sympathy. On 29 April, his family noticed during their visit that he was unable to recognise them and was speaking incoherently, with 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 fearful glances at the guard standing at the door, and spoke incoherently, accusing a person nicknamed "the Bat" of beating him, repeating phrases such as "I am a man and injustice is forbidden... we are all born the same way... I want to die", before starting to recite the Quran. The lawyer tried to meet the prison director or the official in charge of prisoners' affairs but was met with a flat refusal; one of the officers merely informed her that his head had been scanned, that tests had been carried out on him, and that an appointment had been scheduled for him at Razi Hospital.