The mother of a British doctor who died in custody in Syria was told by sources in the country that he did not take his own life, the High Court heard today.
Dr Abbas Khan, 32, was discovered hanging in a jail cell a few hours before he was due to appear in a terrorism court in Damascus.
The orthopaedic surgeon, from Streatham, was captured in Aleppo in November 2012 after travelling to help victims of hospital bombings.
His mother, Fatima, went to Syria to help her son. She saw him alive and was given assurances by an adviser to President Assad that he would be freed. But last December he was found dead, after being locked up for 13 months.
The Syrian authorities claim the father-of-two killed himself. His family say he was on the verge of being released and insist he was murdered. Mrs Khan recently returned to Syria with her daughter, to attend a peace conference which helped improve the situation in Homs.
While there she was informed “off the record” that Dr Khan had not committed suicide, Michael Mansfield QC told a pre-inquest review today.
Mr Mansfield also called for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to be considered as an interested party so it is forced to answer questions over its efforts to free Dr Khan.
The UK post mortem is yet to be completed, the review heard.
