Latest news with #arbitrarydetention
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Mother-of-four's warning to holidaymakers after husband is jailed for 10 YEARS after visiting popular tourist destination
The wife of a father jailed for 10 years over a 'tweet' has warned Brits to 'think hard about the risks' after her husband was 'abducted' at a popular tourist destination. Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst at Bank of America, lived in Manchester before the day of his arrest when he was swooped on at an airport on August 31 last year as he prepared to fly home. The British citizen was held in a maximum security prison under strict anti-terrorism laws, on charges that included criticising the government on social media and associating with a London-based dissident. His distraught wife has spoken out to warn too many people are unaware of the 'dangers' of travelling to the country which hundreds of thousands of Brits frequent each year. Amaher Nour told MailOnline: 'For years my family and I have enjoyed travelling to Saudi Arabia for holidays and pilgrimage – that all changed in August 2024 when my husband was abducted at Riyadh airport. 'I would advise fellow Brits to think hard about whether it's worth the risk after my husband, a British citizen, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for what we think might be a deleted tweet – but we're not sure which tweet, the evidence or the exact charges. 'The UK Government doesn't know the charges either and has refused to demand answers from Saudi Arabia. 'For as long as the UK Government fails to warn Britons of the dangers of travelling to Saudi Arabia, and fails stand up for its citizens arbitrarily detained abroad, other families like ours are at risk of being torn apart.' Mr al-Doush was put in solitary confinement for 33 days after his arrest and denied consular assistance as well as access to legal representation for more than two months. He was then jailed for a decade, with a state-appointed lawyer initially telling Ms Nour her husband had been convicted of an offence at a hearing but that he could not tell her what it was. The case was discussed by the UK foreign secretary David Lammy alongside his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, though details of their call were not disclosed. Mr al-Doush had not met his baby son Youssef, after missing the birth in December due to his detention. Ms Nour said: '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".' It was only once the family touched down in Manchester that they received confirmation Mr al-Doush had been imprisoned. He was reportedly blocked from having any contact with his family until November 17 2024 - almost three months after he was first detained. Mr al-Doush is believed to have been imprisoned in relation to a deleted Tweet from 2018 about the war in Sudan, his homeland, which provided military support for Saudi Arabia in its ongoing conflict with Yemen. He has not posted about Saudi Arabia on his X account and only had 37 followers. Dan Dolan, Interim Deputy Executive Director of civil rights group Reprieve, has written to the UK Foreign Office urging the government to 'update its travel advice to Saudi Arabia' so British nationals are 'fully informed of risks to their safety'. Mr Dolan said: 'The Saudi authorities have announced that they are investing $800 billion to transform their tourism sector to attract more visitors. 'Hundreds of thousands of Britons already visit the Kingdom each year. 'Few will be aware that an old, deleted social media post could lead to them being abducted, charged with terrorism offences and potentially sentenced to death. 'Few will know that there are currently foreign nationals on death row, at imminent risk of execution, after being caught with cannabis for personal use. 'Hundreds more have been imprisoned for similar acts, including Reprieve clients Hassan al-Maliki and Salman al-Odah, two scholars detained since 2017 and at risk of the death penalty for peaceful expression of their opinions. 'The UN has repeatedly condemned Saudi Arabia's 2017 counterterrorism law for violating international human rights standards and criminalising protected speech and association.' Ms Nour previously said night time is 'hardest' for her when she is 'alone and it's quite'. She added: 'I keep asking myself "why, why, why has this happened", and I can't get to the bottom of it because it's not rational in any way. He has no political associations.' The Foreign Office 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 Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Australian engineer freed on bail after four years in Iraqi prison
An Australian engineer has been granted conditional release after spending more than four years in an Iraqi prison in what the UN has described as arbitrary detention. Robert Pether, 50, was arrested in Baghdad in April 2021 along with his colleague, Egyptian national Khalid Radwan, amid a contractual dispute between their employer CME Consulting and the Central Bank of Iraq. The two men had been overseeing the multi-million-dollar reconstruction of the bank's Baghdad headquarters, a project Pether had been involved with since 2015. Following their arrest, both men were held for nearly six months without charge, subjected to what the UN described as 'abusive and coercive' interrogations, and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison and a joint fine of $12m (£8.8m). Pether, who has consistently maintained his innocence, said he was forced to sign a pre-written confession in Arabic. In 2022, a UN working group concluded that the detention of the pair violated international law and due process. The following year, the International Chamber of Commerce's Court of Arbitration ruled that the Central Bank of Iraq, not CME Consulting, was at fault in the contractual disagreement and ordered it to pay $13m (£9.5m) in compensation to the firm. Although Pether has now been granted bail, he is still prohibited from leaving Iraq and will face ongoing legal proceedings. His family and supporters are urging the authorities to lift the travel ban so he can receive urgent medical treatment. His wife, Desree Pether, told the BBC that he is 'extremely sick' and has been unable to eat properly for months, raising fears of a possible recurrence of skin cancer. 'He's unrecognisable,' Ms Pether said. 'If he got on a plane now and they were checking his passport, they would not know it was the same person.' She added that the family had begun crowdfunding to afford private hospital care for him in Baghdad. 'Enough is enough. He needs to come home.' In a statement, Australia's foreign minister, Senator Penny Wong, welcomed the development, calling it 'a positive step' following years of 'persistent advocacy'. She noted the personal toll the detention has taken on Pether and his family, adding that she hoped 'this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress', reported 9 News. Senator Wong also thanked Australian officials, including the government's special envoy to Iraq, for their efforts, noting that Pether's case had been raised with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. Ireland 's deputy prime minister, Tánaiste Simon Harris, also acknowledged the development, revealing that Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein had called him directly to confirm Pether's release. The Pether family had been living in Roscommon, Ireland, before the arrest. 'I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon,' said Mr Harris. "I also spoke this evening with Robert's wife, Desree Pether, about this positive development." Speaking after a phone call with her husband on Thursday night, Ms Pether said he was briefly uplifted by the release but warned he was likely to crash emotionally soon after. 'There's a tiny glimmer of hope,' she said. 'But there's another mountain still to go over.' In a letter written from prison last year, Pether described the pain of missing milestones with his wife and five children during his detention. "I've missed so many milestones," he wrote. "Our oldest son's 30th, our other son's 18th and soon 21st and our youngest son's 16th and 18th. Our youngest two boys have finished school and are now young men. Our daughter was eight when I was arrested and is now 11. "I've missed three Christmases and four Easters, multiple birthdays, three wedding anniversaries, and so much more.' He wrote feeling 'abandoned' by the Anthony Albanese government. 'I have pleaded for three years for Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Wong to do everything they can to help me and get me home,' he said. 'So far, I just feel abandoned. I am sick, and worried I will not survive this ordeal much longer. 'I want to go home,' he wrote. 'I want to go back to Australia and hear the birds, swim at the beach, sit and watch the harbour while the ferries come and go and feel the sun on my skin.'
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Australian Robert Pether released from Iraqi prison four years after being arbitrarily detained
Australian engineer Robert Pether has been released from his Iraq jail cell more than four years after he was arbitrarily detained. Pether was working on a project to help build the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq when he was detained in Baghdad in April 2021. He had flown in for a meeting with bank officials to resolve a dispute they were having with his engineering firm, CME Consulting, over the project. Pether was later sentenced and fined over allegations that his firm spent money that should have gone to an architect and a subcontractor. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email In a report in March 2022, the United Nations working group on arbitrary detention found Pether had been arbitrarily detained in breach of international law. It also heard allegations that Pether and his Egyptian colleague's trials were compromised and that he had been subjected to torture-like practices. The body called for their immediate and unconditional release. After more than four years in prison, Pether has now been released. Pether's wife, Desree, welcomed the development and said her family were 'grateful to everyone who contributed to this happening'. But she also warned her husband remains trapped in Iraq due to a travel ban, and urgently needs medical care. 'He's unrecognisable,' she told Guardian Australia. 'So frail and weak. He needs urgent medical care and that's not possible in Iraq.' The foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the Australian government had raised the case with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. 'I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The case has prompted prime ministerial intervention, with Anthony Albanese raising Pether's detention with then Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in 2022. In 2022, the Guardian obtained an emotional letter from Pether to his family, penned from behind bars. The letter warned his family that his prognosis was 'bleak' and that he was facing a potential 'death sentence'. Pether also wrote of his daily torment about how he should break it to his children that he might not be coming home. 'How do you tell a little girl who loves unicorns and cats that her daddy will not be coming home? How do you tell your children that you are proud of them, but will not be sharing the accolades (and pitfalls) of their lives with them?,' Pether wrote. 'And toughest of all, how do you tell your wife, who is very much the other half of you, that you will not be keeping the promise you made to grow old together?'
BBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Robert Pether: Australian jailed in Iraq conditionally released
An Australian man has been conditionally released from prison in Iraq, after four years of what the UN has called arbitrary Pether, a mechanical engineer, was jailed in 2021 on fraud charges amid a contract dispute between the consulting firm he worked for and the Central Bank of UN has said the 50-year-old's detention and treatment was illegal, and an international court has ruled his employer is not responsible for the business officials are yet to provide an explanation for the decision, Mr Pether's wife Desree told the BBC - noting her "extremely sick" husband is still banned from leaving the country despite needing urgent medical care. The family feels numb with shock, said Mrs Pether, who has been tirelessly lobbying for this moment."It's the first time in over four years that we've taken one step in the right direction.""There's a tiny glimmer of hope, but there's another mountain still to go over.""He really needs to be home and in hospital."Simon Harris, the tánaiste (deputy prime minister) of Ireland - where the Pether family lives - said in a statement to media that Iraq's Foreign Minister had called him to confirm the "welcome news"."[This] has been a long and distressing saga for Robert's wife, three children and his wider family and friends," Harris said."I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon."He added that he remained concerned about Mr Pether's health and any outstanding charges against him - which are BBC has contacted the Australian government for Pether worked in the Middle East for almost a decade before taking on a huge rebuild of the Central Bank of Iraq's Baghdad headquarters in was arrested alongside his CME Consulting colleague, Egyptian Khalid Radwan, after the bank accused the men of stealing money from the being held without charge for almost six months, and then subjected to a speedy trial, the two were each given a five-year jail sentence and a joint fine of $12m (A$18.4m, £8.8m).However, a 2022 report from the UN determined that the case contravened international law, and that Mr Pether and Mr Khalid had been subjected to "abusive and coercive" government has previously denied allegations of ill 2023, the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) Court of Arbitration ruled that Iraq's central bank was at fault in the dispute with CME, and ordered it to pay $13m to the Pether said she spoke to her husband after his release on Thursday night."He's on a bit of a high tonight, but I think he'll probably come crashing down tomorrow."He looked sick and weak, she said, noting that he can't keep food down and hasn't eaten properly in months. There are also worries he has a potential skin cancer relapse, she added."He's unrecognisable. If he got on a plane now and they were checking his passport, they would not know it was the same person."She said efforts are now turning to have Mr Pether's travel ban lifted, but in the meantime the family has turned to crowdfunding to try to get him private hospital care in Baghdad."Enough is enough," Mrs Pether said. "He needs to come home."
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
British man being held in Saudi Arabia jailed for 10 years, say lawyers
A British national arrested in Saudi Arabia on charges that appear to relate to a deleted tweet has been jailed for 10 years, according to British lawyers and campaign groups representing the family. Ahmed al-Doush was arrested in August and, while it is understood that UKForeign Office officials were allowed into the Saudi court for his hearing, the British government has been criticised for a lack of action since his arrest. Jeed Basyouni, who leads the human rights group Reprieve's work to stop the use of the death penalty, said: 'This is what can happen when the UK government fails to stand up for the rights of its citizens arbitrarily detained overseas. 'A British man was abducted in front of his family and disappeared into a Saudi jail on charges unknown, and for eight months the Foreign Office failed to do what was needed and seek his release. '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 of what crime he has been accused something has gone very badly wrong' She added: 'It would be farcical if it was not a tragedy for this family who have been badly let down by the government.' A government special envoy for British nationals arbitrarily detained overseas has yet to be appointed. Doush's wife, Amaher Nour, based in Manchester, has four children including one born while her husband was detained in Saudi Arabia. She was given brief news of his lengthy sentence by the lawyer appointed to him by the Saudi government. Foreign Office officials at the hearing were able to pass news of the sentence to Doush's British lawyers, it is understood. Haydee Dijkstal, a barrister at 33 Bedford Row chambers and the international counsel for Doush, said: 'Online expression, even if expressing concern or criticism of a government, should not be criminalised or lead to detention and imprisonment. Using anti-terrorism legislation to punish and repress online expression on social media with severe prison sentences is inconsistent with international law and human rights standards'. Speaking before the sentence, Amaher Nour said 'I rarely speak to my husband but in the few snatched conversations we have managed it is clear that Ahmed is struggling. 'He has thyroid problems and is tormented by mental distress. Hw worries about his family particularly as he was the sole breadwinner. He missed the birth of our fourth child and our 10-year wedding anniversary, 'Because Ahmed is a British citizen we expected the UK to provide clarity amid a storm of uncertainty. But the Foreign Office refused to share information with me for months – citing data protection – while at the same time accepting assurances from Saudi Arabia at face value'. The Foreign Office has also said the Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, had raised the case multiple times with Saudi officials but Amaher Nour said she had been refused a meeting with the foreign secretary, David Lammy. Her husband had received only three consular visits since he was imprisoned in August. She said 'We think Ahmed is being charged for a tweet he posted seven years ago and subsequently deleted. 'Ahmed has been sleeping in an overcrowded cell that is filthy. My husband is a dedicated family man who is devoted to his children, spending weekends taking them to restaurants and the park. They are distraught and are constantly asking when he will be back. I no longer know how to answer their questions. 'For me the night-time is an empty void where I question over and over why this has happened to us. 'What Ahmed has endured over the past eight months is tortuous prolonged solitary confinement, unclear charges, a forced confession and excessive surveillance by prison authorities all managed by a powerless state appointed legal counsel.'
