British Man Jailed in Saudi Arabia Over Old Tweets Has Not Met His Newborn Child
- Ahmed Al-Doush, a British business analyst from Manchester, has been held in Saudi Arabia since August 2024 over social media posts
- Al-Doush was sentenced to 10 years in jail in May 2025, later reduced to five years on appeal, for allegedly spreading fake news online
- Amnesty International and a UN working group have both called for his immediate release, citing violations of his basic rights
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A British business analyst from Manchester has spent nearly two years in a Saudi Arabian prison over a handful of deleted tweets, with his wife and four children growing up without him while diplomatic efforts have so far failed to secure his release.
Ahmed Al-Doush, 44, was arrested at Riyadh airport in August 2024 as he was flying home with his pregnant wife and their three children after a family visit. He has since been convicted by Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court, which sentenced him to 10 years in prison in May 2025, reportedly for using social media to spread false information against the government.
Source: Getty Images
That sentence was reduced to five years on appeal in April 2026, but his family says his physical and mental health continue to worsen.
His London-based lawyer, Haydee Dijkstal, says he appears to have been questioned about tweets he posted in 2018 and later deleted, which concerned Sudan, the country of his birth, as well as his acquaintance with the son of a UK-based Saudi dissident. Al-Doush was held for five months without charge and interrogated without legal representation before his conviction.
Neither his family, his legal team, nor the UK government have been permitted to view any court documents related to the case, including the judgment itself.
Family Left in the Dark
His wife, Amaher Nour, told journalists that she hides the truth from her children about where their father is. "I tell them that he's away working because I don't want to say that he's in prison, as they're old enough to know that prison is a place where you go if you've done something bad. And he's done nothing wrong," she said.
Al-Doush has not met his youngest child, who was born after his arrest. Nour said his voice is frequently unrecognisable during permitted phone calls, and that he has gone on multiple hunger strikes. "He is fatigued and confused why the British government aren't doing more to get him home safely," she said.
Amnesty International says he is being held in a cell designed for six to eight people that currently holds around 16 prisoners, with phone access frequently restricted. He has reportedly been warned not to discuss his health or his legal case.
Calls for Release
The human rights group has described the prosecution as a violation of his right to free expression and called on Saudi authorities to release him immediately. Eilidh Macpherson of Amnesty International UK said: "Ahmed Al-Doush has a family in the United Kingdom who urgently need him. He has been imprisoned for nothing more than social media posts — posts that would raise no eyebrow in any democratic country."
A UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in March 2026 that his detention was arbitrary under international law, finding multiple violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Saudi authorities, however, told the group there was evidence he had committed terrorist crimes, including support for terrorist ideology.
The UK Foreign Office confirmed the case has been raised with Saudi authorities. In May, Nour appealed directly to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for clemency on humanitarian grounds.
Source: Legit.ng
