Faizel Patel – 16/04/2021
Ex-Guantanamo Bay prisoner and director of Outreach at CAGE UK Moazzam Begg says British actor Benedict Cumberbatch was the motivation behind the movie “The Mauritanian” which is getting huge acclaim globally.
Begg was speaking to Radio Islam live from the UK about “The Mauritanian” directed by acclaimed Hollywood director Kim MacDonald.
The movie tells the story about Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s experience as possibly the highest-profile detainee at the infamous Guantánamo Bay camp in Cuba.
Slahi was kidnapped, tortured in ways barely imaginable and incarcerated for 14 years, but never charged with a crime.
Begg says Cumberbatch read Slahi’s best-selling book “Guantanamo Diaries” which inspired the movie.
“When Benedict Cumberbatch read his book and saw the campaign about him that was taking place, he approached Kim MacDonald who’s the director, a very famous director in Hollywood to make a film about this and that’s essentially how his became made into a film.”
Begg says Slahi is very well-known among the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay for his character.
“He’s very soft, kind, he’s memorized the Qur’an. The last things he enjoys or talking or seeing is violence and the violence committed against anybody or against himself. He’s just simply opposed to it totally.”
Begg says it has been impossible to return to normal life after his ordeal at Guantanamo Bay, adding that he will only find closure when he reaches his grave.
Listen to the interview with Moazzam Begg
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