NEWS RELEASE

I issued the following press release on 20.12.2005

BIRMINGHAM MAN SPENDS FIRST CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY WITH FAMILY IN 7 YEARS AFTER SAUDI ORDEAL

Birmingham man, Mohammed Chaudhry, is at last free and will be spending his first Christmas holiday with his family in 7 years.  Lynne Jones, Mr Chaudhry’s MP has tabled the following Parliamentary motion highlighting the abuse of her constituent’s human rights and criticising the former Saudi Ambassador, Prince Turki Al Faisal.

The MP said: “Mohammed has always professed his innocence and that he was the victim of a cover up.  He was treated appallingly by the Saudi regime, which has a shocking human rights record despite the propaganda that the Ambassador regularly sent to MPs like myself.”

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Text of Motion

THE TREATMENT OF MR MOHAMMED CHAUDHRY IN SAUDI ARABIA

That this House sends its best wishes to Mohammed Chaudhry, his wife and two children, who will be spending their first Christmas holidays together in 7 years following his detention in June 1999 in Saudi Arabia; notes that Mr Chaudhry, after being held without charge for 34 months was charged with negligence over missing supplies from Riyadh military hospital; notes that Mr Chaudhry’s superior, Captain Meshal, though also found guilty in March 2002 of negligence and forgery, was fined the same as Mr Chaudhry, the equivalent of £400,000, but never imprisoned and is believed to have been promoted; further notes that, even after being released from prison in June 2004, Mr Chaudhry was not allowed to leave the country for over a year whilst the Saudi bureaucracy confirmed his inability to pay the fine and agreement was reached between the members of the Saudi Royal Family in charge of the Ministries of the Interior, Defence and the Governorship of Riyadh to petition the Royal Diwan; believes that Mr Chaudhry’s treatment by the Saudi authorities constitutes a breach of natural justice and human rights and expresses concern that the recently retired Saudi Ambassador, Prince Turki, whilst regularly appearing in British media defending his Country’s human rights record, never kept his promise, at a meeting in May 2003 with Mrs Chaudhry and the Member for Selly Oak, to provide a translation of the court  judgement (which was never explained in English) nor replied to several letters from the MP.

 

On 5 July 2000 Lynne Jones held an adjournment debate to highlight the case which contains further details: http://www.lynnejones.org.uk/newpage4.htm