Sitting in the shabby parlour of his temporary home, Haaji Mohammed can barely bring himself to watch the Isil video playing on his mobile phone. The film was made just last month – yet the horrific scenes it shows could be from 500 years ago.
Kneeling before a masked executioner are two men in orange jumpsuits, charged under a statute that drags even the medieval barbarity of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to new depths. The pair are accused of “sorcery”, and just as in witchcraft trials of old, justice is swift, brutal and dispensed to the sound of a baying mob.
As the executioner beheads them with a four-foot scimitar, a crowd of men and boys scream “Allahu Akhbar”, jostling each other for a closer look.
Mr Mohammed is less keen. “I know that man personally,” he says, pointing to the older of the two defendants, whom he names as Said Jabr. “He is not a witch, he is just an alternative healer who does homeopathy and acupuncture. He was wrongly accused.” » | Colin Freeman, Misrata | Monday, January 18, 2016
