PM ‘concerned’ by Brit jailed in UAE
PRIME Minister Theresa May has said she is “deeply disappointed and concerned” about the case of a British academic jailed for life in the United Arab Emirates.
Matthew Hedges, 31, who is accused of spying on behalf of the British Government, was shaking as he was sentenced to life imprisonment in a five-minute hearing at an Abu Dhabi court yesterday, according to his wife Daniela Tejada.
She said the couple’s “nightmare has gotten even worse” as Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged the UAE to reconsider the sentence.
Mrs May told MPs: “The Foreign Office will remain in close contact with Matthew, his family and his lawyer.
“We will continue to do all we can to support them as they consider the next steps and we will continue to press this matter at the highest level with the Emiratis.”
Mr Hunt said consular officials had been in contact with Mr Hedges’ family and added he was “deeply shocked” at the verdict, having personally raised the case with the UAE government.
“Today’s verdict is not what we expect from a friend and trusted partner of the United Kingdom and runs contrary to earlier assurances,” he said.
Ms Tejada, who was in court during the hearing, said: “I am in complete shock and I don’t know what to do. Matthew is innocent. The Foreign Office know this and have made it clear to the UAE authorities that Matthew is not a spy for them.
“This whole case has been handled appallingly from the very beginning with no one taking Matthew’s case seriously.
“The British Government must take a stand now for Matthew, one of their citizens... I don’t know where they are taking him or what will happen now. Our nightmare has gotten even worse.”
The Middle Eastern studies specialist from Durham University visited the country to research his PhD thesis and was arrested at Dubai Airport on May 5.
His family’s representative said he was held in solitary confinement for over five and a half months, during which his “mental and physical health seriously deteriorated”.
Professor Stuart Corbridge, vice-Chancellor of Durham University, said they were “devastated” by the sentence.
He said: “Following a period in which he was detained in conditions which breached his human rights this judgment has been delivered in the absence of anything resembling due process or a fair trial.
“There has been no information given on what basis Matt was handed this sentence and no reason to believe that Matt was conducting anything other than legitimate academic research.”
Ben Ward, acting UK director at Human Rights Watch, said: “British authorities should closely monitor Hedges’s appeal and insist upon his humane treatment in prison, proper access to a lawyer, and that coerced statements not be used as evidence against him.”