41-year-old British Bank of America analyst, Ahmed al-Doush, was arrested at King Khalid airport in Riyadh on August 31, 2024, while on holiday with his three children and his pregnant wife.
According to The Times, he has spent nine months in a maximum security prison under Saudi Arabia’s strict anti-terrorism laws.
Allegedly, he spent 33 days of this in solitary confinement.
Haydee Dijkstal, al-Doush’s international counsel, posted about the case on X, writing, “The exact tweet is unknown. His trial and detention involved fair trial and due process violations.
“The information known indicates that the charges against him, the proceedings and his treatment are contrary to international law and human rights standards.”
She added that the U.K. government “should stand firmly against a British national’s imprisonment for allegedly exercising his free speech rights.”
Ahmed al-Doush was allegedly placed in prison over a now-deleted tweet on his X account — where he only had 37 followers — that Saudi Arabia’s government deemed a national security threat.
They also claimed he had contact with a Saudi critic in exile.
The Mirror reports that al-Doush’s family believes the charges that led to prison time may be over a 2018 tweet he made about the political situation in Sudan, with no mention of Saudi Arabia, which he later deleted.
Dijkstal has reached out to the Foreign Office in an attempt to learn more about her client’s conviction.
“We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudi Arabia and are in contact with his family and local authorities,” a spokesperson for the Foreign Office in London said in a statement.
Amaher Nour, al-Doush’s wife, said her husband, who missed the birth of his fourth child, is struggling with pre-existing health conditions. He’s also experiencing mental distress.
“I rarely speak to my husband but in the few snatched conversations we have managed, it’s clear Ahmed is struggling. He has thyroid problems, back pain and is tormented by mental distress.” she said.
“He worries about his family, particularly as he was the sole breadwinner.”
Nour added: “He missed the birth of our fourth child and our ten-year wedding anniversary. How many more family milestones will he have to miss before the [Foreign Office] sit up and take action?”
Jeed Basyouni, head of the Middle East and North Africa death penalty project Reprieve, told The Times, “When a British national is convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, and neither his family nor his lawyer nor the Foreign Office know what crime he has been accused of, something has gone very badly wrong.
“It would be farcical if it wasn’t a tragedy for this family, who have been badly let down by the UK government.”
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