Court hands life sentence to British ‘spy’

ABU DHABI: An United Arab Emirates court sentenced British academic Matthew Hedges to life in prison on charges of spying yesterday, according to his family and a court statement carried by state-run newspaper The National.

The hearing lasted less than five minutes and his lawyer was not present, his family said.

UK Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said he was “deeply shocked and disappointed” by the verdict, adding that he had personally raised the case at the highest levels of the UAE government and that the verdict would hurt relations.

He said the handling of the case by Emirati authorities would have repercussions on relations between the two countries.

Hedges, a 31-year-old doctoral student at Durham University, was researching the UAE’s foreign and internal security policies after the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011, when he was arrested at Dubai International Airport on May 5 after a two-week research visit.

UAE attorney general Hamad al-Shamsi said earlier this month that Hedges was accused of “spying for a foreign country, jeopardising the military, political and economic security of the state”.

Hedges has repeatedly denied the charges.

“I am in complete shock and I don’t know what to do. Matthew is innocent,” said Hedges’ wife, Daniela Tejada, who was present in the courtroom. A Reuters journalist was barred from entering, which was closed to the public.

She had previously expressed concern for his safety, saying he was being held at an undisclosed location with limited access to the British consulate and his family.

A life sentence for a non-Emirati entails a maximum of 25 years in jail and is followed by deportation, according to The National. The court ruled that his devices and research would be confiscated, the newspaper reported.

Emirati authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hedges was granted temporary release on Oct 29 but had been held in solitary confinement for five months before that. His family said that he was constantly monitored until yesterday’s court hearing, only his third since his arrest.