Briton jailed ‘over tweet’ in Saudi Arabia is being failed by UK, say family

A British man jailed for 10 years in Saudi Arabia, reportedly over a tweet he wrote seven years ago, has done nothing wrong and is being failed by the UK, his family have said.

Ahmed al-Doush, 41, a banking business analyst of Sudanese heritage from Manchester, is believed to have been jailed by a Saudi judge on Monday after being held for nine months in al-Hair Prison in the capital, Riyadh.

Non-governmental organisation Reprieve is supporting Mr al-Doush’s worried family as they try to get more information and secure his release.

His wife, Amaher Nour, was told her husband had been jailed by a lawyer who represented him in the Saudi court, but further information has been sparse.

She said on Tuesday: “To the UK Government Ahmed is just another statistic on a long list of British citizens detained abroad. To me and my kids he is everything.

“That’s why the news yesterday that Ahmed was sentenced to 10 years in a Saudi Arabian jail is heartbreaking, even more so that we don’t know why.

“And so the nightmare my family has endured for the past eight months continues into a never-ending abyss, exacerbated by the lack of clear information provided to us by the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office).

“Before the judgment was handed down, Ahmed was already suffering with back and thyroid issues and was becoming increasingly mentally distressed. I can only imagine what he is going through now, knowing he won’t see his family again for years.

“He should be at home surrounded by his loved ones, not in an overcrowded cell surrounded by second-hand cigarette smoke.

“Yesterday it became clear how badly the UK Government has failed me and my husband.

“The judgment needs to be a wake-up call for the Foreign Secretary to act. Our children need their father. He has done nothing wrong.”

Mr al-Doush was first detained in the Kingdom on August 31 last year as he prepared to fly home with his family following a holiday.

His wife, pregnant with their fourth child at the time, was allowed to return to the UK but her husband was arrested.

The exact reason for his detention and imprisonment remains unclear.

Human rights group Amnesty International said Mr al-Doush was subjected to extensive interrogation without a lawyer present and before being informed of the charges against him.

During interrogations, he was reportedly told that if not for his social media activity, he would be home with his family.

Mr al-Doush has 41 followers on his X account. According to reports from his family, the “offending” tweet, written in 2018 and since deleted, is thought to have related to the war in Sudan, which provided military support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

Jeed Basyouni, Reprieve’s head of death penalty for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “For the past eight months, Ahmed’s family have grappled not only with losing a father and husband, but with the FCDO failing to push hard enough for his release.

“Ahmed’s case underscores that something is seriously wrong with the UK Government’s approach to its citizens arbitrarily detained abroad, and now Ahmed and his family are the latest people to suffer the consequences.

“It is staggering that the Foreign Office still doesn’t know what Ahmed has been charged with, but there are indications it relates to a single tweet.

“Will the UK Government stand idly by while a British family is torn apart, apparently over a social media post?”

Amnesty said that, for two-and-a-half months after his arrest, Mr al-Doush’s family was denied any communication with him or given the reason for his arrest.

He was also denied consular access to UK Government representatives, the charity said.

In November last year, he was allowed a call to his wife and then permitted weekly phone calls with his family.

But in January this year, the calls were interrupted and have now become sporadic.

The PA news agency has contacted the UK Embassy of Saudi Arabia for comment.

The case has been raised multiple times with the Saudi authorities by Hamish Falconer, minister for the Middle East and North Africa, according to the FCDO.

A spokeswoman for the department said: “We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudia (sic) Arabia and are in contact with his family and the local authorities.”