US Government Made American Hostage Pay for his Flight Home after He was Held Hostage for Seven Months in Syria
- Matthew Schrier was working as a freelance photographer when he was captured by al-Qaeda-linked rebels last December 2012
- He was beaten and given electric shocks by the rebels, who also emptied his bank accounts and pretended to be him in emails to his family
- He eventually escaped in July last year through a gap in a basement window
- Schrier says the FBI made him pay back $1,605 for his flight
- They put him up in a hotel for one month and then suggested he move to a homeless shelter
- FBI took six months to confirm to his mother he had been kidnapped
Daily Mail UK, 30 November 2014
An American photographer held hostage by Syrian rebels for seven months has told of his horrors in dealing with the FBI after he managed to escape.
Still recovering: Matthew Schrier, 36, was held by Syrian rebels with al-Qaeda links for seven months
Matthew Schrier, from Syosset, New York, was captured by Jabhat al-Nusra, a militant group aligned with al-Qaeda, as he traveled in Syria in December 2012.
He was taken to a compound near Aleppo and locked up before escaping from a gap in a basement window on July 29 last year, he said.
Now the 36-year-old has revealed the shocking treatment he suffered by during and after his ordeal because of the FBI - including being forced to reimburse the State Department the $1,605 they paid for Schrier's flight home.
In a new interview Schrier said the FBI waited six months to contact his family to let them know he had been captured.
He previously said that the rebels had emailed his parents pretending to be him and assuring them he was fine.
With his parents none the wiser, Schrier's captors were able to drain his bank account of $17,000.
The next time the FBI calls me will be
the first time,' said Schrier's father, Jeffrey, outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told McClatchy.
'I thank God my son was able to escape, because if he was waiting for the government to spring him he would still be waiting in that hellhole.'
Once Schrier was back in the US, it was a matter of weeks before he received the bill for his airfare.
He says that a psychiatrist assigned to help him with the experience and his return cancelled five times in the first two months.
He was put up in a hotel for one month after his return, but after that time the FBI suggested he go to a homeless shelter.
Held: Schrier says that he was beaten, electrocuted and robbed by the rebels after they kidnapped him in December 2012. He since claims to have been treated terribly by the FBI
Locked up: The compound where Schier was kept was near Aleppo, where a Free Syrian Army fighter is pictured above
Schrier waited five months to receive a new ID and Social Security number, after his cards were stolen, copied and used multiple times.
'It is like a scam. I don't understand what they do, victims services,' Schrier told McClatchy.
'The FBI has made it impossible for me to recover.'
Before he fled, Schrier said he was beaten with a metal cable across his feet and given electrical shocks.