Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterparts on the case of Karl Andree.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Ministers and senior officials have raised Mr Andree’s case with the Saudi Government repeatedly since he completed his sentence in August 2015. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised this case at the highest levels on 29 September. I spoke to the Saudi Arabian Ambassador on 17 September and wrote to him about the case on 24 September. I had a meeting with Mr Andree’s two sons and Margot James MP on 15 September 2015 to discuss their concerns. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) also wrote a letter to the Saudi Government on 13 October. Officials at our Embassy in Riyadh have also raised the case with the Saudi authorities on numerous occasions. We are actively seeking his release as soon as possible.