British student held captive for five months by Dubai authorities

A BRITISH student has been held in solitary confinement in a UAE prison for five months accused of spying, prompting calls to review educational ties between the UK and the Emirates.

Matthew Hedges, 31, who is studying for a PHD at Durham University, was arrested upon arrival at the airport in Dubai on May 5 after travelling to the UAE to interview sources about the country’s foreign policy and security.

Daniela Tejada, Mr Hedges’ wife, said she had only had limited contact with her husband.

Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, is reported to have personally raised Mr Hedges’ case with his UAE counterpart. The two countries have strong military ties, and imprisoning a British academic for such an extended period without charges is unprecedented.

“Matt is a brilliant researcher, a man of integrity, and he has been punished in the most unjust and unfair way. His rights are violated on a daily basis and I am shocked that more has not been done to get him out,” Ms Tejada said.

She said in the first month he was held he was not allowed to shower and was made to sleep on the floor. After that, he was only granted a shower every two weeks and was given a foam mattress three months later.

Ms Tejada said he was allowed to see a doctor who prescribed a cocktail of medication to treat his mental health with little to no success.

In one conversation with his wife, Mr Hedges expressed that he was having suicidal thoughts.

Stuart Corbridge, the vice-chancellor of Durham University, said it was “seriously concerned” about his welfare and had put a temporary ban on research trips to the UAE.

The UAE has not publicly commented on the case, but Hamad Al Shamsi, the attorney general, ordered an investigation into a foreign national who had been reported to the public prosecution for acting suspiciously and “asking sensitive questions about sensitive departments, and seeking to gain classified information on the UAE.”

Mr Hedges’ case was heard by a court in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, but was adjourned until another hearing on Oct 24.

♦a British airline passenger in Dubai who verbally abused check-in staff after drinking for four hours before his flight to the UK has been sentenced in the country to three months in jail.