Raphael Eylon, the Israeli seaman detained for 23 days by the Egyptians and released yesterday, told a press conference here today that he was mistreated during the first three days in prison.
His hair shaved off and his beard in wild disorder, Eylon said that during the first three days he was threatened cruelly, during non-stop interrogation and that he was not fed until the fourth day. He also reported that when he was escorted yesterday by the Egyptians to the Gaza Strip border checkpost–where he was turned over to Israeli authorities–a Gaza mob tried to grab him to lynch him.
Toward the end of his detention, he said, he won the confidence of his captors and was taken for a tour of the shores of the Nile river and to Cairo sites, including the Egyptian broadcasting offices where he was interviewed on a tape-recorder. He assumed that his remarks were “amended” later for Cairo radio broadcast. He related that he became friendly with the Egyptian lieutenant-colonel who was questioning him and asked permission to interview President Nasser and to meet Egyptian Jews but received no reply.
Eylon told a hair-raising incident of being visited the day before his release by a guard who measured his neck with a piece of cord. The seaman said he was sure this meant he was scheduled to be executed until the guards later told him the measurement was for the size of a new shirt which the Egyptians gave him prior to his release.
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