Mr Bin Omran told his rescuers he had at times seen his family from his prison, but claimed he had been unable to call out for help “because of a spell that his captor had cast on him”, local media reported.
Yeah but that ain't superstitious that's just being dumb as shit. Like how did he even arrive at that dumbass conclusion? Did the guy tell him he cast a spell and he just accepted it or did he try to yell and no one heard him so he thought, "yup that's a spell right there."
I can’t imagine the mental anguish this man had gone through. I can’t imagine the toll it took on his general sanity. He probably would’ve believed anything. And a mind in turmoil, under torture? Is capable of insane things, I’m sure. Who knows what went on up until that point. He was probably fucking destroyed. And here you are, calling him dumb as shit. Gross.
According to accounts by Kristin Enmark (one of the hostages): the police were acting incompetently, with little care for the hostages' safety.
She had criticized the police for pointing guns at the convicts while the hostages were in the line of fire, and she had told news outlets that one of the captors tried to protect the hostages from being caught in the crossfire
but the prime minister [Palme] told her that she would have to content herself with dying at her post rather than Palme giving in to the captors' demands.
Ultimately, Enmark explained she was more afraid of the police, whose attitude seemed to be a much larger, direct threat to her life than the robbers.
Which could possibly be relevant here, particularly the civil war part.