A Wichita man says he’s doing all he can to save his nephew from execution in Iraq.

Musadik Mahdi, a Wichita aerospace engineer, says he fears his efforts will be in vain because his nephew is being held at a prison where executions happen on a whim.

His nephew, Osama Jamal ‘Abdallah Mahdi, was sentenced to death after an Iraqi army officer was killed in an explosion. Musadik Mahdi says his nephew confessed to a crime he didn’t commit after being tortured.

Amnesty International has taken up the Mahdi case after verifying that he had been tortured.

And his uncle says he has appealed to the Iraqi president, parliament, prime minister and human rights minister, with little success.

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Associated Press Information from: The Wichita Eagle