Lawsuit filed over man’s prison death

A man who died in a Jordanian prison in 2007 was "severely tortured and beaten to death," his family said in a lawsuit seeking more than $100 million in damages from the Middle East country.

Firas Zaidan, 35, died on May 10, 2007, six days after he was arrested during a rent dispute in the Red Sea resort city of Aqaba in Jordan. The lawsuit alleges conspiracy, battery, false imprisonment, negligence and other acts by Jordanian authorities.

Jesse Sbaih, Zaidan's brother, said Wednesday his family wants to use the lawsuit to expose human rights abuses and mistreatment of prisoners in Jordan, a U.S. ally.

"We know we can't bring him back," Sbaih said. "The only thing we can do in his honor is make sure no one ever will face such severe torture, beatings and killing."

The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court seeks damages on behalf of Zaidan's parents, Ismail Sbaih and Hanan Sbaih of Henderson, and his widow, Barbara Cole of Harrisburg, Pa. His parents are naturalized U.S. citizens, but Zaidan was a citizen of Jordan.

In the complaint, Jesse Sbaih, an attorney who is representing his family in the suit, cited a provision of federal law allowing U.S. citizens to sue foreign countries and individuals for injury or death. He said the family would donate any monetary award to a charity benefiting orphans.

The Jordanian Embassy in Washington, D.C., issued a statement Wednesday calling Zaidan's death "a tragic situation," but said it couldn't comment on the case.

Zaidan was vacationing in Aqaba when he was arrested after arguing with a landlord about a rent payment for an apartment near the beach, his brother said. A judge sentenced Zaidan to six days in prison for disorderly conduct.

The lawsuit cited bloodstained clothing received from prison officials and autopsy reports of bruises, a broken rib and injuries to Zaidan's lungs, kidneys, liver and spleen.

"It was clear that (Zaidan) had been severely tortured and beaten to death," the lawsuit states, alleging that he was beaten and injected with a potentially lethal dose of the antidepressant Cloripramine a few days before he was found dead in a solitary cell.

A police news release to Jordanian media stated Zaidan died of heart failure at a hospital in Aqaba and a Public Safety Directorate spokesman also denied that his body showed any evidence of beatings or assault, the lawsuit states.