The Prince of Wales has been asked to raise the case of a Manchester man detained in Saudi Arabia during his first official trip to the country.
In a letter, exclusively shared with Sky News, Amnesty International has written to Prince William sharing the plight of Ahmed al-Doush.
The father of four, and senior banking analyst for Bank of America, was returning from a holiday in Saudi with his wife and children in 2024 when he was arrested for past social media posts and his alleged association with a Saudi critic in exile, which he denies.
He was initially sentenced to ten years in prison now reduced to eight.
Sky News approached the Saudi embassy for comment but received no response.
Felix Jakens, head of campaigns for Amnesty, told us: “It was unsurprising the UK government and our economy and society are moving much closer to Saudi Arabia, so we would expect to see a royal visit at some point.
“Obviously, what we as a human rights organisation want to do is make sure that human rights are part of that conversation…
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“Obviously, we wouldn’t be expecting him (Prince William) to make big public statements about human rights in Saudi Arabia, but we know that some of these issues are close to his and his wife’s heart, so we’d just be asking him whether, in private, he’d be willing to raise the case of Ahmed.”
Talking about the impact on the al-Doush family, Haydee Dijkstal, Mr al-Doush’s legal representative, said: “His wife has spoken about the core role that Ahmed had in their family, not only as a provider, as the main provider for the family, but as a loving father.
“And his absence has been very much missed by his wife and children, and has had a serious impact on them.
“And this in addition to the most recent concerns about the fact that Ahmed’s health and well-being, and the recent fear about his mental health, his mental well-being as well, have led his wife to appeal directly to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.”
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We understand his case has been raised by the UK with Saudi authorities.
The Foreign Office told Sky News: “We are supporting a British man who is detained in Saudia Arabia and are in contact with his family and the local authorities.”
This visit was always going to have its political sensitivities.
Kensington Palace wouldn’t comment on the letter from Amnesty, but talking more widely about Prince William’s three-day visit, a royal source said: “Prince William didn’t blink [when asked to go].
“He knows this is an important part of his global role for UK PLC.”
Prince William spent his first night in Saudi with his royal counterpart Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia; the man credited with having a more open and more modern vision for Saudi, albeit one that some would suggest hasn’t been wide-reaching enough in the political arena.
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But the first full day of engagements for William will be a display of how the country has liberalised and changed its focus, from meeting women’s football teams, talking about their energy transition away from a dependence on oil and taking part in an e-gaming competition, another part of how Saudi’s economy is diversifying, and trying to draw in a global tourism audience.
William is also tasked with trying to maintain the attention on the significance of the trip after statements were released yesterday both on his behalf and from Buckingham Palace about the Epstein files and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s association with the convicted paedophile.
Andrew denies any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
