A British father-of-four has been reportedly sentenced to a decade in prison in Saudi Arabia over a removed social media post from a Twitter/X account with just 37 followers. Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst at Bank of America, is believed to have been incarcerated following his apprehension by Saudi authorities on August 31, 2024, during a family vacation to the country. He was detained by security while preparing to fly back to the UK from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

He has now been imprisoned for 10 years after a state-appointed lawyer informed his wife Amaher Nour, that he had been found guilty of an offence at a hearing on Monday but could not disclose what it was.

Five months after his arrest, Amnesty International stated Ahmed was informed that charges would be brought against him for using social media to disseminate fake, false and harmful news, and secondly, he was accused of having ties with an individual who posed a threat to national security, as reported by The Times. Ahmed's family suspect these allegations may pertain to a 2018 tweet he posted about the situation in Sudan, without any reference to Saudi Arabia, which he subsequently deleted.

They also suspect that the second allegation is linked to his supposed association with a critic of Saudi in exile, with whom his only connection is knowing his son. His wife was expecting their fourth child at the time of his arrest, before boarding a flight back to Manchester Airport, resulting in him missing the birth of his fourth child, reports The Mirror.

Ms Nour revealed: "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'.

"The night times are the hardest for me when I'm alone and it's quiet. 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."

Amnesty International has since reported that Mr Al-Doush's fair trial rights have been repeatedly violated since he was taken into custody, with allegations of heavy interrogation without legal representation and a lack of information regarding his charges.

For an agonising two months, Mr Al-Doush's worried family lost all contact with him, receiving no updates about his wellbeing or the rationale behind his arrest. His communication with his UK based family and lawyers remains extremely limited.

Recent discussions involving the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his Saudi counterpart over Mr Al-Doush's predicament have been shrouded in secrecy. Following inquiries by Reprieve, a human rights organisation, to Mr Lammy about the matter, the Foreign Office iterated in an April 2 letter that "the UK government cannot interfere in another country's legal processes and must respect their systems, nor can we get British nationals out of jail," according to The Guardian.

Amnesty International has called out the Saudi authorities over their treatment of Ahmed al-Doush, who was only able to contact his family intermittently as reported last November. Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK, condemned the situation: "We strongly condemn this sentence and reiterate our urgent call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ahmed al-Doush, if he is being held solely for peacefully exercising his human rights.

"He must be allowed to return to his family in the UK without delay. In the meantime, Saudi authorities must uphold his fair trial rights, promptly share his court documents with him and guarantee regular access to both his family and legal counsel.

"We also urge the UK government to take all necessary steps to secure his immediate and unconditional release. The arbitrary detention of another British national abroad cannot be tolerated. Immediate and decisive action is essential."

A statement from the Foreign Office confirmed their assistance: "We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudi Arabia and are in contact with his family and the local authorities."