Bank of America contractor sentenced to 10 years in Saudi Arabia prison over single, years-old tweet: report
A contractor with Bank of America and dad of four was sentenced to 10 years in Saudi Arabian prison over a single, seven-year-old tweet, according to reports.
Ahmed al-Doush, a 41-year-old British national, received the steep sentence after the Saudi government claimed a since-deleted 2018 post on his 37-follower Twitter account was a national security threat, according to .
“He missed the birth of our fourth child and our 10-year wedding anniversary,” wife Nour al-Doush told the outlet. “How many more family milestones will he have to miss before the [UK government agencies] sit up and take action?”
A second unsubstantiated claim from the Saudi government alleged al-Doush had contact with a Saudi critic in exile — who his family believes was the father of one of his acquaintances, .
The Sudanese-born dad was first apprehended last August in the King Khalid airport in Riyadh by plainclothes officers who refused to inform him or his then-pregnant wife of any charges or reasons for the arrest, the outlet reported.
The family proceeded to travel back to Manchester, but al-Doush was held and later locked up in a maximum-security prison — even spending 33 days in solitary confinement — where he remains after being charged on Monday, the Times reported.
Lawyers for al-Doush claim his right to due process and a fair trial were blatantly violated by the solitary confinement, prolonged detention without a charge, and interrogations without a lawyer present, the report stated.
“The fact that it is still unclear what tweet forms the basis of the charge, even after conviction and even to the UK government, further demonstrates the fair trial violations,” UK-based lawyer Haydee Dijkstal told the outlet.
“The information known indicates that the charges against him, the proceedings and his treatment are contrary to international law and human rights standards,” Dijkstal added.
The lawyer further claimed that al-Doush has been instructed by Saudi prison officers not to speak to his family about the hearings or his prison conditions, according to the report.
An urgent request for intervention has been filed with the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office, which has yet to meet with the al-Doush family, the Times reported.
Al-Doush’s family claimed he never tweeted about Saudi Arabia, but would occasionally post about the political situation in his native Sudan, which they believe to be the cause of his arrest, the outlet reported.
Saudi Arabia’s special criminal court prosecuted the case — a court which has previously sentenced offenders to death for social media posts, the Times of London reported.
“We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudi Arabia and are in contact with his family and the local authorities,” the UK’s Foreign Office said in a statement to the Times.
British Foreign Minister David Lammy reportedly discussed the case with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, but advocates claim the actions are not enough.
“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 what crime he has been accused of, something has gone very badly wrong,” Jeed Basyouni, head of the Middle East and North Africa death penalty project Reprieve, told the outlet.
“It would be farcical if it wasn’t a tragedy for this family, who have been badly let down by the UK government.”
