British father-of-4 jailed 10 years in Saudi Arabia over one deleted tweet

Wednesday, May 14, 2025 - A British dad-of-four has reportedly been jailed for 10 years in Saudi Arabia over a deleted social media post from a Twitter/X account with just 37 followers. 

Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst with Bank of America, is understood to have been put in prison following his arrest by Saudi authorities on August 31, 2024, while on a family holiday to the country. 

He was stopped by security while preparing to fly home to the UK from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. 

He has now been jailed for 10 years after a state-appointed lawyer told his wife, Amaher Nour, that he had been convicted of an offence at a hearing on Monday, May 12, 2025, but that he could not tell her what it was. 

Five months after his arrest, Amnesty International had said Ahmed was told that charges would be issued against him for using social media to spread fake, untrue and damaging news, and that he was secondly accused of having a relationship with an individual who threatened national security, reported The Times. 

Ahmed's family believe these accusations may relate to a 2018 tweet he made concerning the situation in Sudan, with no mention of Saudi Arabia, which he then deleted. 

They also believe that the second accusation is related to his alleged association with a Saudi critic in exile with whom he has no relationship beyond knowing his son. His wife was pregnant at the time of his arrest, before catching a flight back to Manchester Airport, and he therefore missed the birth of his fourth child. 

Ms Nour said: "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 this has happened, and I can’t get to the bottom of it because it’s not rational in any way. He has no political associations." 

Since his arrest, Amnesty International says Mr Al-Doush has faced "multiple violations" of his fair trial rights and was subjected to extensive interrogation without a lawyer present and before being informed of the charges against him, reported the Manchester Evening News. 

For two months, his family also had no contact with him, nor did they receive information about his condition or the reasons for his detention. His contact with his family and UK-based legal team has continued to be severely restricted.