The suspected ringleader of the 2004 Madrid train bombings filed a complaint in court on Friday alleging he had been abused, tortured and humiliated in Spanish and Italian custody since his arrest in Milan nearly two years ago. Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, 35, is accused in Italy of recruiting extremists and leading an al-Qaida cell that was planning another attack on an unspecified location. Italian and Spanish investigators also believe he masterminded the Madrid bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500 in 2004.Ahmed filed the complaint with judges at the start of Friday's hearing, during which Milan's chief anti-terrorism investigator also testified. The judges were not expected to investigate the claims, though Ahmed's lawyer said London-based human rights group Amnesty International would. In the complaint, handwritten in Arabic and translated into Italian, Ahmed wrote that he was beaten into unconsciousness after his arrest on June 4, 2004 in Milan.
"My body and my face were full of bruises and my nasal septum was broken," Ahmed said. He also described humiliation by Italian prison guards, one of whom ordered him to pray at his feet saying, "I am your god." Ahmed also described mistreatment at a Spanish prison where he was transferred in December 2004, saying guards trampled his clothes and threw his Quran, Islamic publications and prayer rug on the floor. "They told me to remove my clothes and made me stand naked in front of them to listen to their jokes and comments. After, they ordered me to take a shower in freezing water," he claimed.