TREATMENT OF Mr MOHAMMED CHAUDHRY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Summary

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 seven 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 supplies missing from Riyadh military hospital; further 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; and 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 hon. Member for Birmingham Selly Oak, to provide a translation of the court judgement, which was never explained in English, nor replied to several letters from the hon. Member.

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Timeline

1. 20 December 2005

   Early Day Motion

   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 seven 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 supplies missing from Riyadh military hospital; further 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; and 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 hon. Member for Birmingham Selly Oak, to provide a translation of the court judgement, which was never explained in English, nor replied to several letters from the hon. Member.

   Source: Early Day Motion

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• Lynne Jones · Labour · Primary sponsor

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