Artist and Culinary expert Rafram Hadad, 37, was sent by the Ohr Shalom Libyan Jewish Heritage Center to document and photograph ancient synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in Libya. "Under Qaddafi's paranoid regime, they suspected I was a spy," explains Hadad, who quickly found himself in a Secret Police interrogation cell, where he underwent electric shock torture and beatings.
"170 days went by, and I kept my sanity with mental exercises and a makeshift chess table made of a plastic tray," recalls Hadad.
"Through constant efforts of my family, and with the intervention of Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair, I was eventually brought to an aircraft arranged by Saif al-Islam Qaddafi behind his father's back, and I was free. It happened in time for Passover, which I celebrate as my personal holiday of freedom."
Hadad adds, "The episode has increased by Faith. G-d is watching over me."