Bank of America analyst sentenced to 10 years in Saudi Arabia prison over single, years-old tweet: report
A senior business analyst with Bank of America and dad of four was sentenced to 10 years in Saudi Arabian prison over a single, 7-year-old tweet, according to reports.Ahmed al-Doush, a 41-year-old British national, received the steep sentence after the Saudi government claimed a since-deleted 2018 post on his 37-follower Twitter account was a national security threat, according to The Times of London.“He missed the birth of our fourth child and our ten-year wedding anniversary,” wife Nour al-Doush told the outlet.“How many more family milestones will he have to miss before the [UK government agencies] sit up and take action?”A second unsubstantiated claim from the Saudi government alleged al-Doush had contact with a Saudi critic in exile — which his family believed was the father of one of his acquaintances, The Mirror reported.The Sudanese-born dad was first apprehended last August in the King Khalid airport in Riyadh by plainclothes officers who refused to inform him or his then-pregnant wife of any charges or reasons for the arrest, the outlet reported.The family proceeded to travel back to Manchester, but al-Doush was held and later locked up in a maximum-security prison — even spending 33 days in solitary confinement — where he remains after being charged on Monday, the Times reported.Lawyers for al-Doush claim his right to due process and a fair trial were blatantly violated by the solitary confinement, prolonged detention without a charge, and interrogations without a lawyer present, the report stated.“The fact that it is still unclear what tweet forms the basis of the charge, even after conviction and even to the UK government, further demonstrates the fair trial violations,” UK-based lawyer Haydee Dijkstal told the outlet.“The information known indicates that the charges against him, the proceedings and his treatment are contrary to international law and human rights standards,” Dijkstal added.The lawyer further claimed that al-Doush ...