A 74-year-old British man faces 350 lashes for having wine in Saudi Arabia

That’s after he has spent a year in prison. Washington Post:

Karl Andree is a 74-year-old British grandfather. For the past 25 years, he has lived in Saudi Arabia, working with local oil companies. According to his children, he was quite happy there, even when his wife, Verity, was forced to return to Britain to help cope with her worsening Alzheimer’s.

However, Andree has suffered serious problems in Saudi Arabia over the past year — and his problems may well spell trouble for relations between Britain and Saudi Arabia.

On Aug. 25, 2014, he was arrested by religious police in Jiddah after they allegedly found bottles of homemade wine in his car. He has served a one-year prison sentence for possessing alcohol, which is illegal in the conservative Islamic country. However, he has not been released — and his family said he now faces 350 lashes in a public flogging.

“My dad broke the rules in a country that does not allow alcohol, but he’s served his time,” his daughter, Kirsten, told the Sun tabloid this week. “Dad is 74 and not a well man. I worry he won’t survive this ordeal.”

In an emotional appeal published Monday, Andree’s children called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to step in to help their father. The family said it had worked with the British Embassy in Riyadh — to no avail. “The Saudi government will only listen to him,” Andree’s son Simon told the Sun, referring to Cameron.

On Tuesday, Cameron’s office indicated that the British leader will write to Saudi authorities to protest Andree’s “extremely concerning” case. “Our embassy staff are continuing to assist Mr. Andree, including regular visits to check on his welfare, and frequent contact with his lawyer and family,” a Foreign Office spokesman told WorldViews.

Andree’s case comes after a groundswell of international criticism over Saudi Arabia’s human rights records, sparked by the flogging of blogger Raif Badawi and reports of the planned execution of activist Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, who was arrested at 17 for allegedly taking part in anti-government protests. Saudi Arabia has responded to these criticisms forcefully over the past year, arguing that its legal system is based on sharia, or Islamic law.