LONDON: The son of a 74-year-old British man facing a sentence of 350 lashes in Saudi Arabia has accused the Foreign Office of allowing business interests to get in the way of helping to free his father.
Simon Andree’s father, Karl Andree, has been in prison in Saudi Arabia since August 2014 after being caught with homemade wine. His one-year sentence has been completed, but he is still behind bars awaiting corporal punishment.
His children say he is already weakened as a result of cancer, as well as having asthma, and fear that the lashes will kill him. Now Simon Andree has alleged British diplomats are not putting enough pressure on the Saudis because of concerns about damaging relations with the oil-rich country.
My father is at the bottom of a list, he’s at the bottom of the pecking order,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I feel that the business dealings with Saudi Arabia and the UK are probably taking priority over it.
All I can say is that the primary responsibility of the British government is to their citizens. He’s a British citizen and I ask that the government plead for his clemency, for him to be released. He’s done his time and I just fear that these lashes are unjustified for his age and for his current health condition.”
Saudi police caught Karl Andree with bottles of homemade wine in his car last year. The oil company executive, who has worked in Saudi Arabia for 25 years, has been held at Briman prison in Jeddah.
His children say he needs urgent treatment for asthma and for cancer. Breaking their silence over his case in a statement reported by the Sun on Monday, they also said his wife is dying in a home in the UK.
