Briton faces danger of prolonged Saudi jail sentence for tweet

As Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman get ready to fulfill in Riyadh on Tuesday to rejoice a brand new golden age in business, a British nationwide will seem in a Riyadh court docket dealing with the specter of a longer jail sentence for a tweet.

The UK Foreign Office has thus far been denied get right of entry to to his trial and his British legal professionals say he’s nonetheless no longer transparent what offence Ahmed al-Doush has dedicated, or how the trial court cases are being performed. He is due in court docket on Monday.

The UK overseas secretary David Lammy on Saturday spoke through telephone with the Saudi overseas minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, a reality launched through the Saudi facet. Details of the decision, and whether or not al-Doush’s trial was once raised, weren’t published.

Ahmed al-Doush, a Manchester-based father of 4 and previous trade analyst with Bank of America, has no longer been granted a Saudi legal professional of his selection and located it tricky to talk to his circle of relatives at the telephone about his case. Saudi jail officials have instructed him that he can not talk in regards to the listening to or his jail prerequisites. It isn’t transparent if he’s going to be sentenced on Monday when he seems in court docket.

Haydee Dijkstal, a barrister at 33 Bedford Row Chambers, and world recommend for Doush stated: “Under international law, a detained person has the right to be promptly informed of both the reasons for arrest and continued detention and of the charges.

“This obligation not only means that the state must inform the detained person of the law and provision under which they are charged, but also the facts and evidence that form the charge.

“Over three months since Doush was charged, and with indications of his trial nearing conclusion and a judgment imminent, it is still not clear whether the tweet allegedly supports the charge against him. This reality is not only in direct contradiction of the most basic principles of due process, but is exacerbated by information of numerous other fair trial and due process violations in his case.”

His spouse, Amaher Nour, is claimed to be in a state of deep misery, since her husband was once the only breadwinner, and her touch with him has been so limited.

The case once more raises wider problems about Saudi censorship of social media and its use of anti-terrorism regulations to suppress unfastened speech. He has been represented through the civil rights staff Reprieve.

In a reaction to a letter from Reprieve to Lammy regarding the case, a Foreign Office professional wrote 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”. The letter, dated 2 April, permitted the occasions should be extremely distressing to the circle of relatives.

The professional stated Lammy was once acutely aware of the case, including officers in Riyadh had constantly raised considerations with the government on Doush’s remedy in detention.

It added that it was once for Doush to invite the pass judgement on to grant his Saudi legal professional permission to percentage main points of the case, one thing his circle of relatives claims he had already accomplished, however to no avail. The Foreign Office additionally instructed Reprieve that they may no longer remark at the case as that is “a matter for his legal team”.

Doush seems to had been charged in entrance of a specialized prison court docket in the case of a deleted tweet in regards to the conflict in Sudan, and one after the other because of a friendship with the son of a Saudi dissident. His circle of relatives insist this friendship didn’t lengthen to the dialogue of politics.

He was once arrested as he ready to go away the King Khalid world airport in Riyadh on 31 August closing 12 months. He was once intending to go back to the United Kingdom together with his circle of relatives, and his 3 kids, however at his request the circle of relatives returned house whilst he was once held again on the airport. The circle of relatives, together with his then pregnant spouse, returned to the United Kingdom, however weren’t allowed any touch with him till November. He didn’t attend court docket till November, the primary month he was once accredited a consular discuss with.

Saudi Arabia has prior to now declined to make any commentary in regards to the case.