Atlanta man held captive by Taliban talks of being beaten for not renouncing Catholic faith
George Glezmann said that for more than two years, he was regularly beaten by his captors for refusing to renounce his Roman Catholic faith.
'They would come as often as they could, you know, very often, they would come in and kick me or slap me,' Glezmann told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne.
Glezmann said he frequently refused to trade his faith for his freedom during the roughly two years and four months the Taliban wrongfully detained him in Kabul, Afghanistan.
'I'm a Catholic, Roman Catholic. And the first thing that we human beings do when we feel in trouble is to pray to God,' Glezmann said.
Glezmann said he faced near constant pressure by his captors to convert to Islam, not only in the form of physical abuse -- ranging from beatings to buckets of cold water in the icy Afghan winter -- But also with the promise of freedom.
'They would come in and try to get me to convert. If you convert to Islam, we're going to release you in two days,' Glezmann said he was told.
RELATED STORIES:
Atlanta man captured by Taliban is released after more than 2 years
Wife of Atlanta man taken hostage by Taliban says US has resources to bring him home by Christmas
Atlanta man wrongfully held by Taliban for 2 years sends new plea for release to Biden
There is new hope as family pleads for release of Atlanta man held by Taliban, advisor says
Diplomat met with GA man held by Taliban in Afghanistan, found him in poor condition
Family of Atlanta man being held hostage in Afghanistan urging President Biden to meet with them
Glezmann said he doesn't know if the Taliban would truly have released him if he converted.
He said those were likely false promises, except at the very end of his captivity when the Trump administration gained his release.
'Sometimes the guards would hear noise in the room because I'm walking. And they would come in and open the door and see me praying, and they would be like, 'No, no, no, no. Pray like this. Don't pray like this,'' Glezmann said.
Glezmann said he wants to be very clear to his Muslim friends.
'I respect their faith, and they respect mine,' Glezmann said.
He does not believe that most who follow Islam agree with the approach taken towards him by the Taliban.
'They believe they're the true Muslims,' Glezmann said.
Glezmann said he was a Delta Air Lines mechanic with an Anthropology degree who had visited 133 other countries to explore their cultures when he traveled by ground into Afghanistan from Pakistan and had begun to explore the streets of Kabul when he was taken by the Taliban.
'They beat me, they dragged me to the side of the street, they cuffed me,' Glezmann said.
Glezmann said he detested the beard he wore in a video shot near the second of his three Christmases in captivity, and his captors told him it would be a sin if they allowed him to cut it off. Though he did so months before his release.
At his low points, with his physical and emotional health deteriorating, Glezmann said he wondered why God had not delivered him like his cellmate, American Ryan Corbett, who was released near the very end of the Biden administration.
But in the end, his prayers and those of his wife Aleksandra, were answered when special presidential envoy Adam Boehler and a case officer embraced him.
'I felt like a kid when he gets lost in a crowd in a shopping center or something. And suddenly your father finds you and takes you up and hugs you and you feel safe, you feel home again,' Glezmann said.
'Your father above never lost you?' Winne asked Glezmann.
'That's correct. My Father above in heaven,' Glezmann said.
Glezman said he has forgiven his captors and, in the process, helped himself heal.
He said his captors eventually allowed phone calls to his wife, which were critical to his survival, and medical visits.
Glezman said he will continue to travel because it's such an important part of his life, but he won't be going to any more dangerous places like Afghanistan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Lesser Prairie Chicken Loses Endangered Species Act Protections
A federal judge has agreed to let the Trump administration remove federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, an imperiled grouse long caught in a tug of war between industry and conservationists. In May, federal officials had filed a court briefing asking for this outcome, arguing that the science behind a Biden-era decision to place the prairie chicken on the endangered species list was deeply flawed. The judge, David Counts of the Western District of Texas, who was nominated by President Trump in 2017, wrote on Tuesday that the recent 'concession' by the Fish and Wildlife Service 'points to serious error at the very foundation' of its earlier decision. Conservationists expressed bitter disappointment. 'The court here simply took the Trump administration at its word and does not appear to have grappled with the science, conservation status or history of this listing at all,' said Jason Rylander, legal director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. He said the Biden administration's decision had been 'carefully considered' and the new ruling 'had everything to do with kowtowing to the oil and gas industry.' The bird's habitat, which sprawls across the southern Great Plains, has been a source of conflict with cattle ranches and oil and gas drilling operations. The leading global scientific authority on the status of species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, classifies the lesser prairie chicken as 'vulnerable' and 'in decline.' The population has decreased in number from perhaps millions to about 30,000 today. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNN
4 hours ago
- CNN
Left behind: Trump's travel ban leaves former allies stranded
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans worked with the US and its allies during the 20-year war there. When the Taliban took over in August 2021, many of them were left behind. Years later, some were still trying to get to the US. But when Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year, he cancelled refugee programs, dismantled the office dedicated to helping Afghans relocate, and barred them from entering the US altogether. CNN's Isobel Yeung reports from Afghanistan.
Politico
4 hours ago
- Politico
Tech, utilities brace for clean energy crackdown
President Donald Trump's regulators are poised to make it even harder for new wind and solar projects to get Biden-era tax breaks — a prospect that worries even some of the companies the administration says it wants to help. Upcoming guidance from the Treasury Department implementing tax changes in the GOP megalaw could narrow the path to claiming clean energy credits. That could mean fewer renewable projects added to the power grid even as the artificial intelligence boom drives rising energy demand. The guidance — due next week — is in response to an executive order last month in which Trump called for an end to 'market distorting subsidies for unreliable, foreign controlled energy sources.' The administration instead argues that fossil fuels, including coal, are the reliable energy sources needed to power a new wave of AI data centers. But a range of interests — from utilities to tech giants — say onerous changes could harm their bottom lines. Thanks, but no thanks The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities, told me and my colleague Brian Dabbs that renewable energy is 'critical to meeting energy dominance goals' in the short term. Because utilities have long planning horizons for new generation, member utilities may have already made 'substantial investments' in wind and solar projects, which could become more expensive if regulations change. Tech interests told us they are reiterating to the Trump administration that the path to AI dominance runs through the power grid — which means using any available energy source. The Data Center Coalition, which represents large tech companies and data center developers, is calling for a 'unified, technology-neutral approach' that does not subject wind and solar power to 'more restrictive or ambiguous eligibility frameworks' than other energy sources. The Information Technology Industry Council warned that blunting renewable energy 'could undermine efforts to power high-growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing and AI.' What might change Treasury's guidance could alter one key metric — the definition of the 'beginning of construction' — in a way that makes it harder for renewable energy projects to qualify for tax credits that sunset starting in 2026. Tougher rules would fit with the Trump administration's assault on wind and solar incentives, which the White House says skew the electricity market and lessen incentives for 'dispatchable' fossil fuel power. In negotiations over the megalaw, Trump promised hard-right House members that he would use executive authority to further tighten tax credits. But more moderate Republicans — who fought against efforts to implement an even faster rollback — are pressuring the administration to follow existing tax credit rules. Senate Republicans Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Curtis of Utah are holding up confirmation for some Treasury nominees to get their way. Clean energy advocates argue that stripping away renewable energy tax incentives will hurt the economy. Advanced Energy United, for example, said any rules that make it harder to build wind and solar will mean electricity prices go up. Already, the megalaw has left a dent on the energy market. A report this week from LevelTen Energy, a clean energy marketplace, found that prices for power purchase agreements — long-term contracts for electricity supply that can boost renewable developments — are already up 4 percent in the month since the law's passage. That reflects the 'new risks and headwinds' of the renewable marketplace, LevelTen wrote. It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Jason Plautz. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jplautz@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Zack Colman breaks down what's happening at Sierra Club after its leader was fired this week. Power Centers Space launches could get environmental passTrump wants to exempt the commercial space industry from some environmental reviews and regulatory requirements, writes Michael Doyle. A new executive order directs the Transportation Department to 'eliminate or expedite the [department's] environmental reviews for, and other obstacles' to the granting of launch and reentry licenses and permits. The order specifies that the agency will evaluate which space operations might be exempted from the National Environmental Policy Act. Among the companies that could benefit from the rollback: Elon Musk's SpaceX. Nordic heat wave was even hotter thanks to climate changeClimate change made a July heat wave in Nordic countries worse and more likely to happen, according to new research, Louise Guillot writes from Brussels. Researchers from the World Weather Attribution compared the recent heat wave to pre-industrial times using peer-reviewed methods and models. They found that climate change made the two-week stretch in Norway, Sweden and Finland 10 times more likely and 2 degrees Celsius hotter. And it's just getting started. 'We definitely expect more of these events in the future and we also expect them to become more intense,' said Erik Kjellström, a climatology professor at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute who worked on the study. Oil industry lawsuit divides Republicans in LouisianaRepublican leaders in Louisiana have successfully sued an oil company to force it to pay for coastal cleanup and restoration, a break from their otherwise loyal approach to Trump's energy dominance agenda, Mike Soraghan writes. The suit put Chevron on the hook for $744 million and has drawn the ire of MAGA faithful including Laura Loomer, who called Gov. Jeff Landry a 'perfect example of a Republican speaking out of both sides of his mouth.' 'What we're essentially saying is, 'Come on in, invest in Louisiana, and then in about 20 years or so, we're going to sue the hell out of you,'' said Marc Ehrhardt, executive director of the Grow Louisiana Coalition. Locals disagree. 'I think it's reasonable for some of the companies to come and clean some of this stuff up,' said Richie Blink, a charter tour company owner in Plaquemines Parish, where the Chevron verdict was reached. In Other News Boom or bust? The oil and gas industry hasn't yet been a major job creator in Appalachia since the fracking boom started there in 2008, new research shows. Sweat measure: A NASA scientist created a 'stickiness index' that measures a combination of heat and humidity in an attempt to understand and mitigate the risk of extreme temperatures. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Advisory committees that help create safety rules for air and rail travel have been dissolved or cut back in part over concerns about DEI and climate advocacy. Green groups are beefing up their legal departments in preparation for battles against Trump administration policies. Some utilities are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to keep its authority to regulate power plant emissions. Democrat David Rosner officially became chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
