A British father-of-four has been sentenced to 10 years in a Saudi prison over a now-deleted tweet — from an account that had just 37 followers.
Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst at Bank of America, was arrested on August 31, 2024, while on a family holiday in Saudi Arabia.
He was detained by airport security at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh as he prepared to return home to the UK. Nearly nine months later, on May 12, 2025, his family was informed that he had been convicted — though the charges remain unclear.
According to his wife, Amaher Nour, a state-appointed lawyer informed her of the conviction but said he was not permitted to disclose the specific offence. Nour, who was pregnant at the time of Ahmed’s arrest, gave birth to their fourth child without him by her side.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say Ahmed has endured multiple violations of his rights, including being interrogated without a lawyer, limited contact with his family, and delayed access to legal representation. For two months following his arrest, his family had no communication with him or any official explanation for his detention.
Amnesty believes the charges are tied to a 2018 tweet Ahmed posted about Sudan — a post that made no mention of Saudi Arabia and was deleted shortly after. Another charge may relate to his alleged association with a Saudi dissident in exile, though his family insists he only knows the critic’s son and has no political affiliations.
“This is not rational,” his wife said. “He has no political associations. I keep asking myself why, and I still can’t understand how this happened.”
The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has reportedly discussed the case with his Saudi counterpart, but the outcome of their conversation remains undisclosed. The UK Foreign Office has maintained that it cannot interfere in another country’s legal system, though it continues to provide consular support.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, condemned the sentence: “We strongly urge the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ahmed al-Doush if he is being held solely for peacefully exercising his human rights. The UK government must take all necessary steps to secure his freedom. Arbitrary detention of British nationals abroad cannot be tolerated.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed: “We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudi Arabia and are in contact with his family and the local authorities.”
Calls for Ahmed’s release are growing as human rights advocates demand swift action to reunite him with his family in Manchester.
