A British man accused of fighting for ISIS in Syria has died in custody while awaiting a trial verdict in Spain, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 32, who is accused of posting a photo of himself with a victim’s severed head online, was found dead in a Spanish prison on Wednesday, the ministry said.
The cause of death is yet to be confirmed.
The former rap artist was detained at Puerto III prison in the southern Spanish city of El Puerto de Santamaría, AP reported.
Abdel Bary was arrested in 2020 when he was accused of leading a terror cell and charged with illegal financing of terrorism.
He was awaiting a verdict from a trial that ended on July 14 and faced up to nine years in prison if convicted.
A prison officer who maintained daily contact with Abdel Bary said that his body showed no signs of violence.
Abdel Bary had been under strict rules that included 20 hours a day of solitary confinement.
He had not been a problem inmate and was not on any psychiatric treatment, the officer said.
Militias who played a vital role in defeating ISIS - in pictures
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Iraqi government forces and allied militias take a position in the northern part of Diyala province as part of an assault to retake the city of Tikrit from ISIS, on March 2, 2015. All photos: AFP -
Members of the Iraqi paramilitary Popular Mobilisation units flash the 'V' for victory sign after regaining control of the village of Albu Ajil, near Tikrit, on March 9, 2015. -
Fighters from a Popular Mobilisation unit take part in an exercise during their graduation ceremony in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, on April 9, 2015. -
Iraqi fighters of the Shiite group Asaib Ahl Al Haq (The League of the Righteous) stand guard outside their headquarters on May 18, 2015, in the mainly Shiite southern city of Basra, as Shiite militias converged on Ramadi in a bid to recapture it from ISIS. -
Iraqi government forces and members of the Popular Mobilisation units raise their weapons on the front line during battles with ISIS on the road leading to Saqlawiya, in Iraq's Anbar province, on August 4, 2015. -
An Iraqi Shiite fighter cleans his weapon on his vehicle at the petrochemical plant in the town of Baiji, north of Tikrit, on October 16, 2015. -
Iraqi Shiite fighters fire a rocket during a military operation against ISIS as they advance towards the centre of Baiji, about 200 kilometres north of Baghdad, on October 19, 2015. -
Iraqi Shiite fighters from the Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitaries advance in a desert area near the village of Tall Abtah, south-west of Mosul, on November 28, 2016, during a broad offensive by Iraq forces to retake Mosul from ISIS. -
An Iraqi Shiite fighter from the Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitary forces inspects an underground tunnel in the town of Tal Abtah, south of Tal Afar, on December 10, 2016. -
Iraqi pro-government forces advance towards the Unesco-listed ancient city of Hatra, south-west of Mosul, during an offensive to retake the area from ISIS fighters, on April 26, 2017. -
A fighter from the Hashed Al Sahaabi units helps displaced people who fled from battles to oust ISIS from Hawija cross a river in the area of Zarga, about 35km south-east of Kirkuk, on October 4, 2017. -
Iraqi forces advance towards the city of al-Qaim, in Iraq's western Anbar province near the Syrian border, as they fight against remnant pockets of ISIS forces, on November 3, 2017. -
Iraqi forces ride in the back of pick-up trucks during the advance through Anbar province in the western desert bordering Syria, on November 25, 2017, to flush out remaining ISIS fighters in the region. -
Members of the Iraqi forces and the Hashed Al Shaabi carry their firearms as they stand on an infanty-fighting vehicle near the Iraqi-Syrian border, about 80km west of the border town of al-Qaim, on December 9, 2017. -
Abbas Hamza Hassan, a 56-year-old Iraqi fighter, is pictured on November 13, 2018 while training fellow Hashed members how to use weapons in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.
Abdel Bary left London in 2013 to join an Al Qaeda faction and later ISIS militias in Syria.
Before joining ISIS in Syria, Abdel Bary performed as a rapper under the name Jinn.
He was the son of an Egyptian operative of Al Qaeda who was convicted for events related to the 1998 bombings at US embassies in Africa that killed 224 people.
Abdel Bary stopped making music not long after his father’s extradition to the US on terrorism charges.
Spanish police arrested Abdel Bary and two other men in April 2020, shortly after they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar on a skiff from Algeria.
He was accused of leading a terror cell formed by him and the two other men, dedicated to committing internet banking scams and trafficking in cryptocurrencies to “finance their terrorist activities".
Abdel Bary denied being a cell leader during the trial.
