Daughter of Saudi prisoner criticises Foreign Office

Kaulsom Uddin, 17, said her father, Kausar Uddin, was wrongly imprisoned during a pilgrimage to Mecca in February. She now fears his case is in danger of being forgotten. We revealed last month how Mr Uddin had been left languishing in jail after being beaten by police following a misunderstanding. The 47-year-old taxi driver, from Sighthill, has already served his 35-day sentence for assaulting a policeman. His family claim he was only trying to steady himself when he lost his balance among a large crowd and grabbed hold of the nearest person. However, he remains in prison waiting for a Saudi Court to decide what happens next. Kausar Uddin’s family said he had been wrongly imprisoned. Miss Uddin said: “I don’t feel like the Foreign Office is doing enough. “We were hoping ideally that he would be out before his sentence finishes but even after his sentence has finished they still haven’t got him out. “I just feel like its going to be forgotten about and he’s going to stay there.” She said there had been lots of pushing and shoving during the pilgrimage. She said: “My dad lost his balance so he tripped and he held onto someone’s shoulder to steady himself but it was an officer. He took it the wrong way and started punching my dad. “My dad tried to leave because it wasn’t his intention to fight because he went there to be closer to god not to fight but the officer kept punching him and went after him to punch him. “Then more officers came and took him away.” Mr Uddin had travelled to Mecca with his family, along with other pilgrims from Edinburgh’s Blackhall Mosque. A spokesman for the foreign office said it was providing assistance following an arrest in Saudi Arabia in February. He added: “We will remain in contact with their family and local authorities.”