Brit dad-of-four facing jail in Saudi Arabia over a TWEET after being snatched by cops at airport while on hols
A BRIT dad-of-four is facing a lengthy prison sentence in a Saudi slammer after he was snatched by cops for making a social media post.
Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst at Bank of America, was on holiday with his family in the Arab Kingdom at the time of his dramatic arrest last August.
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He was taken away by plain clothes officers whilst preparing to fly home to the UK from King Khalid Airport, Riyadh, according to The Guardian.
The Manchester man has not yet met his own baby son Youssef - who was born in December during the Sudan-born dad's detention.
His wife Amaher Nour was pregnant with their fourth child at the time of the arrest.
But the brave dad insisted she and their other three children board the flight back without him.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah have reportedly discussed the case.
Nour told The Times that when authorities approached him, they thought there was a problem with his visa.
She said her husband called her from security and "told me to fly with the children on to Turkey".
He told his wife: "I'll be with you shortly."
When the confused family finally touched down in Manchester, only then were they informed that Ahmed had been locked up in Saudi Arabia.
He was reportedly blocked from having any communication with his own family for nearly three months, until November 17.
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In November he appeared in a Saudi court for the first time, before he was allowed a visit from British consulate officials.
The Foreign Office have reportedly been refused access to the trial, but it is believed that they did have access to Ahmed's most recent hearing.
The Sun reached out to the Foreign Office to confirm this.
NGO Reprieve are representing the holidaymaker, a group who have previously campaigned for abolishing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
The organisation sent a letter to Lammy and the Foreign Office reportedly replied that while Ahmed's detention was difficult for the family, the department "cannot interfere in another country's legal processes".
They added that they "must respect their systems" and could not "get British nationals out of jail".
Ahmed is set to face court on Monday - but shockingly his UK lawyer Haydee Dijkstal said that it is still unclear what exactly he is being charged with.
She added that the timeline of accusations was also unclear.
Ahmed is believed to have made a since-deleted Tweet about the war in Sudan, his home country.
Saudi Arabia's most draconian laws
The most infamous case of Saudi Arabia's draconian laws is that of Raif Badawi - a blogger who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for "insulting Islam".
The Arab Kingdom still enforces the death penalty - in 2022, 196 people were executed. And on March 12 that year, 81 people were executed in one single day.
Women and girls still face discrimination in regard to the law. The male guardianship act was enshrined into law in 2022, and means that women must have a "male legal guardian".
The Arab Kingdom consistently cracks down on the press, controlling domestic media and jailing journalists for a variety of "crimes". Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 by agents of the Saudi government.
LGBT rights are not legally recognised in the country. They are labelled as "extremist ideas", with public displays of affection between couples outlawed.
Protests and demonstrations are also illegal. Those who defy this ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment.
Sudan have provided military support to Saudi Arabia, for its ongoing conflict against Yemen.
But Ahmed's X account has not posted about Saudi Arabia - and he only boasts a humble 37 followers.
It is thought that the Saudis may have objected to his friendship with the son of a Saudi dissident.
Ahmed's family however said that the two did not discuss politics.
Nour told The Times: "The night times are the hardest for me when I'm alone and it's quiet."
It was previously reported that the detained dad was being granted a single phone call at 6am every Wednesday with his wife.
During these brief catch-ups he was instructed by prison guards not to talk about his hearings or the conditions he was experiencing in jail.
Ahmed's lawyer Dijkstal told The Guardian: "Under international law, a detained person has the right to be promptly informed of both the reasons for arrest and continued detention and of the charges.
"This obligation not only means that the state must inform the detained person of the law and provision under which they are charged, but also the facts and evidence that form the charge."
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