British man could be facing prison term in Saudi Arabia for tweet

As Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prepare to meet in Saudi Arabia, a British national will appear in a Riyadh court under threat of an extended prison sentence - possibly for a tweet.

- Patrick Wintour

The Foreign Office has been denied access to Ahmed al-Doush's trial, and Haydee Dijkstal, his British-based lawyer, said she was not clear what offence Doush was alleged to have committed or how the trial proceedings were being conducted. He is due in court today.

The foreign secretary, David Lammy, spoke by phone with the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on Saturday, a fact released by the Saudis. Details of the call, and whether Doush's trial was raised, were not revealed.

Doush, a Manchester resident who worked as a business analyst with Bank of America, has not been granted a Saudi lawyer of his choice and has found it difficult to speak to his family on the phone about his case. Saudi prison officers have told him he cannot speak about the trial or his prison conditions.

Dijkstal said: "Under international law, a detained person has the right to be promptly informed of both the reasons for arrest and continued detention and of the charges.