Federico Motka, who was held by British-led ISIS operatives for 14 months, testified in horrific captivity Thursday during the terrorism trial of El Shafee Elsheikh, a British national who allegedly led the kidnapping plot that took more of 20 western hostages between 2012 and 2015. Motka, who was arrested near the Turkish-Syrian border in 2013, said the hostages were thrown into a facility called “the box” – where they were tortured and treated like animals. US Humanitarian Aid Kayla Mueller and journalist Jim Foley were held captive by ISIS before being killed. EPA / Getty Images Peter Abdul Rahman Kassig and Steven Joel Sotloff were killed after being captured by ISIS. EPA / Facebook “They gave us dog names. “We had to come and respond immediately” to the name to avoid being beaten, he recalls. Four Americans were also among the hostages of the group, including journalists James Foley and Steven Solov, as well as aid workers Peter Kasing and Kayla Mueller. Motka is the first surviving hostage to testify at the Elseih trial in Alexandria, Virginia. The aid worker described in court how his cruel abductors – nicknamed John, George and Ringo because of their British accent – imposed a long “punishment regime” on their detainees. Motka said he had to enter a room in “the box” with Foley and another British hostage, John Cadil, to take him to a “Royal Rumble” match. “They were very excited about it,” Motka testified. “We were so weak and devastated that we could barely raise our hands.” The losers would board the water, the team said, and two of the forced fighters fainted during the 60-minute battle, Motka recalls. The aid worker said he was declared a loser but was beaten instead of being thrown into the water – although he was brutally tortured at other times during his captivity, he testified. Another man nicknamed “The Punisher” also tortured them regularly, Motka told the court. El Shafee Elsheikh allegedly led the kidnapping plan that took more than 20 Western hostages between 2012 and 2015. The Syrian Democratic Forces / French Agency through Mohamed Emouazi, also known as “Jihadi John”, was killed by a drone strike. AFP / Getty Images Motka, who was released in May 2014, said he was also beaten with a cord during his captivity, CNN reported. “There was not a minute of calm,” he said. Prosecutors told the court that Elsheikh was the kidnapper nicknamed Ringo. Motka said he had trouble differentiating his captors as they worked hard to hide their faces, but tried to differentiate them based on their preferences for punishment. “George was more involved in boxing,” Motka testified. “John, he kicked a lot. Ringo used to say how he liked the fight. It would put people in a headlock. “ Prosecutors in Virginia referred to three British nationals in their opening statements: Elsheikh, Alexanda Amon Kotey and Mohammed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John”. Emwazi was killed in a drone strike, while Kotey pleaded guilty in Virginia in September, serving a life sentence without any possibility of release. The four American hostages have also been killed. Foley, Sotloff and Kassig were beheaded, while Mueller was forced into slavery and raped by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before being killed. With Post cables
