 Ashraf's cousin in the Palestinian Territories As'ad El-Hajouj told the Turkish Daily News that Ashraf had lost an eye and that one of his hands had been paralyzed due to torture endured in prison.Ashraf al-Hadzhudzh was granted Bulgarian citizenship on 19 June 2007.On 19 April 2009, El-Hajouj caught the Libyan ambassador off-guard when he confronted her at a preparatory committee for Durban II in Geneva.