“This past year without Ahmed has been unbearable for me and our children. The emotional and physical strain has been overwhelming.”
Ahmed al-Doush(Image: PA)
A man from Manchester jailed in Saudi Arabia over a tweet he wrote eight years ago is on the brink of a hunger strike. It was a year ago today that Ahmed al-Doush was detained while on holiday in the country.
The dad-of-four, 42, a banking business analyst of Sudanese heritage, was jailed in May after being held for nine months in al-Hair Prison in the capital Riyadh. His sentence of ten years has since been reduced to eight.
Today Amnesty International UK is called on the UK government to urgently do more to assist Mr al-Doush and his family. He was in custody when his fourth child, who he had never met was born. His wife, pregnant at the time of his arrest, was allowed to return to the UK.
Amnesty says he has been convicted of charges under Saudi Arabia’s terrorism legislation for social media posts about Egypt, Sudan and Gaza, “indicating that his conviction is based on a British national’s exercise of the right to free expression.”
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The organisation says as yet access to any court documents, the judgment or information about the exact social media posts continues to be prevented, leaving the precise details of Ahmed’s conviction unclear.
Amnesty said Mr al-Doush Ahmed has faced extensive interrogation without a lawyer present, before being informed of the charges against him. His family’s contact with him has been severely restricted and he has faced repeated ‘punishment’ for attempting to communicate about his case and conditions.
Ahmed al-Doush, jailed for eight years in May this year in Saudia Arabia. (Image: PA)
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International’s UK Chief Executive, said: “For one whole year, Ahmed al-Doush has been trapped in a living hell – abducted and separated from his young family and detained in Saudi Arabia.
“UK officials should be doing everything they can to secure Ahmed’s release, but instead very little action is being taken. The UK government’s failure to advocate for Ahmed and help him return to his family is extremely worrying.
“It is vital that everything possible is done to urge the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ahmed if he is detained solely for exercising his human rights.”
Ahmed al-Doush with three of his children. A fourth has been born since he was held in custody in Saudi Arabia. (Image: PA)
Amaher Nour, wife of Mr al-Doush, said: “This past year without Ahmed has been unbearable for me and our children. The emotional and physical strain has been overwhelming.
“Just yesterday, our daughter — who has been unwell with a fever and chickenpox — burst into tears saying she wanted her father. Tomorrow is her birthday, and when I asked what gift she wanted, she said simply: ‘I want Daddy.’
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“No words can express the heartbreak of raising four children alone while their father is unjustly imprisoned.
“Our children have never adjusted to his absence, and every day is filled with pain and longing. My greatest fear now is for Ahmed’s health and wellbeing, especially in light of his hunger strike. We are terrified for him and desperate for his safe return.”
Haydee Dijkstal, Counsel for Mr al-Doush, said: “Despite Ahmed Al-Doush’s case being one whereby a British national has been convicted abroad in Saudi Arabia on terrorism charges after an unfair trial and despite him being issued a lengthy prison sentence for exercising his right to free expression through social media posts, the family continue to plead for the Government to act with urgency.
“Repeated calls for his case to be escalated to the highest levels to seek an expedient resolution to the arbitrary detention of a British national which brings him home have been dismissed as unnecessary. Yet, a year on, Ahmed remains in detention and increasingly vulnerable.
A dad-of-four from Ahmed al-Doush, from Manchester who has been sentenced to eight years in prison over a deleted social media post, a human rights organisation has said.(Image: Amnesty International)
“Now, urgent action by the UK government is critically required given recent information indicating that the conditions of his detention, which have left him isolated and have significantly impacted his wellbeing, are abusive and risk subjecting him to significant harm.”
Amnesty say Mr al-Doush has been told that if he attempts to say anything to his family about his case, proceedings, treatment or conditions of detention, or if he speaks in English, his monitored calls will be immediately cut and he will be ‘punished’ with denial of access to his family for a period of time thereafter.
His mental health and well-being is deteriorating and he is contemplating a hunger strike out of desperation.
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During interrogations, he was reportedly told that if not for his social media activity, he would be home with his family.
According to reports from his family, the “offending” tweet, written in 2018 and since deleted, is thought to have been related to the war in Sudan, which provided military support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
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.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Develpment office 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.”
Although the British government cannot interfere in the judicial systems of another country, the case has been raised by Minister Falconer multiple times with his Saudi Arabian counterpart.