Synopses & Reviews
Saudi Babylon is a shocking tale of a miscarriage of justice, but more disturbingly, it reveals how the British government behaves when one of its citizens is imprisoned by a regime with which it does business.
When Sandy Mitchell was arrested for his alleged involvement in two bombings in Saudi Arabia in December 2000, he thought it was a case of mistaken identity and that he would soon be released. Instead, he spent the next two-and-half-years in jail, where he was repeatedly tortured, before being forced to sign a confession and admit his guilt on Saudi television.
Throughout his incarceration the Saudi authorities knew that the attacks were the work of al-Qaeda militants. Yet they kept Mitchell in jail and refused him access to a lawyer for a year, during which time he was sentenced to death. His eventual release came before the penalty could be imposed.
Based on diaries and records of meetings with ministers and officials, this is a powerful exposé of how the British government acts when one of its own citizens is illegally imprisoned and tortured by a regime with which it does business.
Review
An exposé of the British governments failure to act when one of its citizens was illegally imprisoned and tortured by a corrupt regime.
Synopsis
When Sandy Mitchell was arrested for his alleged involvement in two bombings in Saudi Arabia in December 2000, he assumed it was a case of mistaken identity and that he would soon be released. Instead, he spent the next 18 months in jail, where he was repeatedly tortured, before being forced to sign a confession. Mitchell was an innocent manand the Saudi privately knew the attacks were the work of al-Qaeda militants. In July 2002, Mitchell was sentenced to death, but then suddenly released. This shocking miscarriage of justice also suggests a more disturbing truththat Tony Blair and the Foreign Office, mindful of Britains massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia, abandoned Mitchell by adopting a soft diplomatic approach to the corrupt Saudi Royal Family. Based on diaries and records of meetings with ministers and officials, this is a powerful exposé of how the British government acts when one of its own citizens is illegally imprisoned and tortured by a regime with which it does business.
About the Author
Mark Hollingsworth is an investigative journalist and author of several books, notably
Defending the Realm;
MPs for Hire; and
Thatchers Fortunes.
Sandy Mitchell was jailed in Saudi Arabia for a series of bomb attacks that began in 2000. He was granted clemency in 2003.