UK National Ahmad Al-Doush Sentenced to 10 Years in Saudi Arabia

Sanad Human Rights Organization has learned that on Monday, May 12, 2025, the Saudi judiciary issued a 10-year prison sentence against British citizen Ahmad Ali Al-Doush, aged 41, nearly eight months after his arbitrary arrest and following a series of court sessions in recent months.

The sentence has come as a major shock to his family, legal team, and the British government, which has been closely following the case and is now urgently engaging with Saudi authorities.

Al-Doush, a prominent economic analyst working with Bank of America, was detained on August 30, 2024, at Riyadh Airport as he attempted to leave the country following a short family visit. He was taken from passport control without a warrant or explanation, while his wife and children were forced to depart without him.

For more than two months, Saudi authorities denied knowledge of his whereabouts, placing him in a state of enforced disappearance under international law. It was later revealed that he was held at a detention center in Riyadh.

Since then, Al-Doush has been subjected to harsh detention conditions in an overcrowded, unsanitary cell. He has suffered from health issues without proper medical care, and his few communications with his family have been tightly monitored and severely restricted. The British Foreign Office has reportedly provided no clear information to his family regarding the evidence underlying the charges.

According to his defense team, the interrogations focused on an old tweet about Sudan, along with allegations of links to the son of a Saudi dissident—despite there being no connection whatsoever. These claims, the defense argues, highlight the retaliatory and arbitrary nature of his detention.

In December 2024, the legal team filed an official complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), detailing multiple violations including:

• Denial of family contact

• Denial of legal counsel inside Saudi Arabia

• Prolonged solitary confinement

• Lack of any legal basis for his continued detention

His wife, Amher Noor, has since given birth to their fourth child, yet Al-Doush has not been allowed to communicate with her or even see his newborn, causing deep emotional and psychological hardship for the family.

Sanad Human Rights Organization has reiterated that Al-Doush’s trial lacked the elements of a fair hearing, and that his ongoing detention clearly violates international human rights standards. Today’s verdict serves as a critical test of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to international norms and the rule of law.