‘They were trying to intimidate me, they were trying to scare me, but I will not stop,’ says Ghanem al-Dosari
A Saudi human rights activist who sought refuge in the UK has been attacked in a London street by men allegedly shouting about Saudi Arabia’s government.
Ghanem al-Dosari, who is known for satirical YouTube videos ridiculing the Saudi royals, had been for coffee with a friend near Harrods and posted a Snapchat to his followers that revealed his location.
When they left the café shortly afterwards, two men started following them down Brompton Road.
“After we walked 100m or so we were approached by two guys from behind,” Mr al-Dosari told The Independent.
“They started shouting at me… they were saying ‘who are you to talk about the family of al-Saud?’ I think they knew where I was from Snapchat, they recognised me easily.”
Footage shows one man, wearing jeans and a light shirt, punch Mr al-Dosari in the face as shoppers and families pull away from the scene and people try to separate them.
A second man, wearing a grey suit and a wired earpiece, then follows the dissident down the road before being dragged backwards and restrained.
His friend Alan Bender, a Canadian businessman, said the pair accused Mr al-Dosari of being a “slave of Qatar” – an enemy of Saudi Arabia – and threatened to “teach him a lesson”.
“I told them this was not Riyadh, this is London, and the guy immediately said: ‘F*** London, their Queen is our slave and their police are our dogs.”
Mr Bender said the men shouted “how dare you curse Prince Salman, we won’t allow it” and insulted Mr al-Dosari, his mother, sisters and family in foul language.
“People were screaming, children were running petrified,” as the confrontation escalated, he said.
The men only fled when members of the public shouted that the police were coming, he said, with one of them running through Knightsbridge with part of his shirt missing after the struggle.
Paramedics were called to the scene and treated Mr al-Dosari, who was bleeding from the mouth, in an ambulance.
While he was waiting outside the vehicle, Mr Bender said another Saudi man approached him and tried to persuade him not to call police, claiming the two aggressors were leaving London.
Paramedics drove Mr al-Dosari in the ambulance to Notting Hill Police station, where he reported the assault.
Mr al-Dosari believes both men were Saudi and have since returned to the country, with a man bearing a resemblance to one of the attackers posting a social media video discussing the incident.
He also received a phone call from a man claiming to be the person who punched him and saying he was in Saudi Arabia.
The activist believes he was targeted for his human rights work and political views, which are well-known in his home country because of his sizeable social media following.
“They were trying to intimidate me, they were trying to scare me, but I will not stop,” Mr al-Dosari.
“I had never thought they would attack me here – anywhere else in the world yes – but in the UK and in front of Harrods in broad daylight? This is the area where I feel most safe.”
He condemned the British government for being too “friendly” with the Saudis, despite the country’s human rights abuses and alleged war crimes in Yemen.
Mr al-Dosari fled Saudi Arabia in 2003 because of his political views and sought asylum in the UK, studying and then working at Portsmouth University before moving to London.
“I’ve never been back,” he said. “It’s not safe for me there, it’s not safe for anybody who tweets their opinion.”
Mr al-Dosari’s YouTube videos have been viewed more than 200 million times on his channel, the Ghanem Show, and sparked numerous hostile posts and blogs.
Many target the Saudi government, and he has nicknamed Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman “the tubby teddy bear”.
Footage of the attack went viral on Saudi social media, while an Arabic Twitter hashtag translating to#beat_Ghanem_Aldosari_the_dog was tweeted almost 2,000 times by 1,600 accounts within days.
The vast majority of posts seen by The Independent are celebrating the attack, with one saying Mr al-Dosari “should not be surprised by the response” to his videos.
“Reactions cannot be controlled when the king, his family, and the homeland are being assaulted,” another said, while one Twitter user said attacking critics was “a duty for every honourable patriot”.
Mr Bender said his friend had been threatened before and the attack did not shock him.
“I am worried about his safety,” he added. “The message [from this attack] says ‘no one can stop us’.
“They chose the location because Harrods is owned by the government of Qatar… they wanted to do this deliberately, that is my personal opinion.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said officers were called shortly before 6.15pm on 31 August to an assault on Brompton Road, SW1.
“At the scene the victim, a man aged in his 30s, had suffered bruising to the face. He did not require hospital treatment,” they added.
“Officers from Kensington and Chelsea are investigating. The suspects are believed to be two males aged in their 30s. At this stage there has been no arrests. Enquiries continue.”
