Brit dad-of-four jailed for TEN YEARS in Saudi Arabia over ‘mystery offence' after being snatched at airport for a tweet
A BRIT dad-of-four has been jailed for a staggering 10 years in Saudi Arabia after he was arrested for posting a tweet.
Ahmed al-Doush, a Bank of America analyst from Manchester, was on holiday with his pregnant wife and three kids when he was snatched at an airport in Riyadh.
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Ahmed was detained at the King Khalid airport in Riyadh as he was preparing to fly home on August 31 last year.
After this, he was held in a maximum security prison under Saudi Arabia's strict anti-terrorism laws.
He was held on charges that included criticising the government on social media and associating with a London-based Saudi dissident.
The 41-year-old, who has a chronic thyroid condition and back injury, was then placed in solitary confinement for 33 days after his arrest and denied consular assistance.
He was also reportedly denied access to legal representation for more than two months.
His decade-long jail sentence comes after a state-appointed lawyer told his wife Amaher Nour that her husband had been convicted of an offence, but could not tell her what it was, The Times has reported.
Nour was pregnant with their fourth child at the time of her husband's arrest.
She told The Times: "The authorities asked for his documents and we thought it was just a problem with his visa.
"He called me from security and told me to fly with the children on to Turkey, our transit stop, and said, 'I'll be with you shortly'."
Ahmed is believed to have been detained in relation to a tweet from 2018 about the war in Sudan - the country he is originally from - which has since been deleted.
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He had not posted about Saudi Arabia on his account and had just 37 followers at the time.
"The night times are the hardest for me when I'm alone and it's quiet," Nour told The Times.
The case has reportedly been discussed by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy with his Saudi counterpart, although details have not been revealed.
Al-Doush was reportedly blocked from having contact with his family until November 2024 - the same month he first appeared in a Saudi court.
It is understood that Foreign Office officials were allowed into the court for his hearing, according to The Guardian.
Al Doush's lawyer told the paper: "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.
"Over three months since Al-Doush was charged, and with indications of his trial nearing conclusion and a judgment imminent, it is still not clear whether the tweet allegedly supports the charge against him.
"This reality is not only in direct contradiction of the most basic principles of due process, but is exacerbated by information of numerous other fair trial and due process violations in his case."
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.
The Guardian further reported that Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer has raised the case with Saudi officials multiple times.
Nour said she had been refused a meeting with the foreign secretary, David Lammy.
However, Nour claims she has been refused a meeting with the Foreign Secretary himself.
Al Doush had reportedly only had three consular visits since he was detained, the paper reports.
A FCDO spokesman said: "We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudia Arabia and are in contact with his family and the local authorities."
The Saudi embassy in the UK did not immediately respond to The Sun's request for comment.
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