Amnesty International warns of deterioration in British detainee Ahmed Al-Doush’s mental health in Saudi Arabia
Amnesty International has warned of the severe deterioration in the mental health of British citizen Ahmed Al-Doush inside Saudi prisons, stressing that his continued arbitrary detention following an unfair trial poses a growing risk to his psychological well-being.
The organization stated that Al-Doush, who has been detained in Saudi Arabia since August 2024, has experienced a serious decline in his mental health due to his detention conditions and continued imprisonment over charges linked to social media use.
Saudi authorities arrested Al-Doush, a senior business analyst at Bank of America, on August 31, 2024, at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh while he was preparing to return to the United Kingdom with his wife and three children after a family visit.
The Specialized Criminal Court sentenced him on May 12, 2025, to ten years in prison. The sentence was later reduced to eight years on appeal in June 2025, and then to five years in April 2026.
In the same context, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recently concluded that Ahmed Al-Doush’s detention is arbitrary and unlawful under international law, calling for his immediate release.
Amnesty International called on Saudi authorities to urgently release Al-Doush, ensure he receives the necessary medical and psychological care, and end what it described as violations related to freedom of expression and arbitrary detention.
