A British citizen faces the prospect of an extended prison sentence after being detained in Saudi Arabia last August over a now-deleted Tweet.
Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst at Bank of America, lives in Manchester with his wife and children.
He was arrested by plain clothes security while preparing to fly home to the UK from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on 31 August last year with his family, The Guardian reported.
The case has been discussed between the UK foreign secretary David Lammy and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, although details of the call were not revealed.
The Sudan-born father-of-four has not even met his baby son Youssef, after missing the birth in December due to his detention.
His wife Amaher Nour was pregnant with their forth child when Ahmed was arrested – although he insisted that she and their three children board their flight back without him.
Nour 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.”‘
It was only once the family touched down in Manchester that they received confirmation that Ahmed had been imprisoned.
Ahmed al-Doush, a British citizen who worked as a business analyst at Bank of America, faces the prospect of an extended prison sentence after being detained in Saudi Arabia last August over a now-deleted Tweet
Ahmed was arrested while preparing to fly home to the UK from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh (pictured) on 31 August last year with his family
Ahmed (pictured here outside Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium with two friends) has yet to meet his baby son who was born in December
He was reportedly blocked from having any contact with his family until November 17 2024 – almost three months after he was first detained.
That month he appeared in Saudi court for the first time and was allowed a visit from British consulate officials.
It has been reported that the Foreign Office have been refused access to the trial, but it is understood that they did in fact have access to Ahmed’s most recent hearing.
He is being represented in the UK by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Reprieve, who have campaigned extensively for the end of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
The group penned a letter to the UK foreign secretary David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, advocating for Ahmed and received a reply back from a Foreign Office official.
The response reportedly stated that while Ahmed’s detention was difficult for the family, the Foreign Office ‘cannot interfere in another country’s legal processes and must respect their systems, nor can we get British nationals out of jail’.
However, the official is believed to have confirmed that Lammy is familiar with the case and added that British officials have repeatedly petitioned Riyadh over the conditions of Ahmed’s detention.
Ahmed is due in court on Monday but his UK lawyer Haydee Dijkstal, a barrister at 33 Bedford Row Chambers, emphasized that it is still unclear what he is being charged with or what the timeline is with his case.
Ahmed is believed to have been detained in relation to a deleted Tweet about the war in Sudan, his homeland, which provided military support for Saudi Arabia in its ongoing conflict with Yemen
A letter from the Foreign Office to the civil rights group Reprieve confirmed that UK foreign secretary David Lammy was aware of Ahmed’s case
Mr Lammy has reportedly discussed the case with his Saudi counterpart, foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, although details of the call were not revealed
He is believed to have been detained in relation to a deleted Tweet about the war in Sudan, his homeland, which provided military support for Saudi Arabia in its ongoing conflict with Yemen.
Ahmed’s has not posted about Saudi Arabia on his X account and only had a paltry 37 followers.
However, it is thought the Saudis may also have objected to his friendship with the son of a Saudi dissident – with whom his family say he did not talk politics.
‘The night times are the hardest for me when I’m alone and it’s quiet,’ Nour told The Times.
‘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.’
Ahmed’s lawyer Ms 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.
‘Over three months since 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.’
Ahmed has reportedly also not been allowed to select his own legal council in Saudi Arabia.
It was reported in March that he was granted a single phone call at 6am every Wednesday with his wife, but was instructed by prison officers not to discuss his hearings or conditions he was experiencing in jail.
Since Ahmed was working on short term contracts with Bank of America, his extended detention has also plunged the family into financial difficulties, with his wife back in the UK forced to use food banks to get by.
A FCDO spokesperson 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 Arabian embassy in London have been contacted for comment.
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