Emiratis must free Mr Hedges quickly, as both countries can ill afford a rift
Based on the evidence so far collected by British officials, it appears that Matthew Hedges, the British student who has been jailed for life on spying charges in the United Arab Emirates, is guilty of little more than being extremely naive.
A PHD student at Durham University, Mr Hedges, 31, was apparently conducting research into the Emirati military, intelligence and security services when he was detained and accused of spying.
His arrest was prompted after he had interviewed a senior Emirati official who became concerned at his line of questioning, and tipped off the authorities. Mr Hedges’s case was not helped when officials examined his laptop and found material that they believed to be compromising.
It suggested that Mr Hedges was keeping company with groups deemed to be “toxic” by the Emiratis. There are even suggestions that he was in contact with organisations linked to the neighbouring Gulf state of Qatar, with which the Emiratis are involved in a bitter diplomatic dispute.
What is now clear is that it was this unfortunate constellation of events that led the Emirati authorities to conclude – erroneously I am reliably informed – that Mr Hedges was an agent working for MI6.
It is a claim British intelligence officials vehemently deny, pointing out that they would never consider working with a student who did not even speak the local language. Moreover, the working relationship between British intelligence and military officers with their Emirati counterparts is so close that there would be no need to conduct such a clumsy intelligence-gathering mission.
Consequently, it seems the Emiratis are guilty of gross overreaction by finding Mr Hedges guilty on espionage charges, with him now facing the prospect of serving a minimum 25-year sentence in jail.
The affair presents a challenge for the Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, who, despite the criticism he is now receiving from Mr Hedges’s Colombian-born wife Daniela, had been lobbying hard behind-the-scenes to secure the student’s release. Indeed, Mr Hunt had recently received personal assurances from senior Emirati government officials that the case would soon be resolved to Britain’s satisfaction.
Instead, the manner in which the Emirati court convicted Mr Hedges following a hearing lasting only five minutes, during which the main evidence was a “confession” he is said to have made while being held in solitary confinement, now risks provoking a diplomatic rift between London and the Gulf state at a time when both can ill afford it.
Mr Hunt has invested a great amount of political capital in trying to end Yemen’s civil war, having recently made visits to Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two main protagonists. And the Emiratis, who are one of the main military contributors to the Saudi-led coalition, have a crucial role to play if hostilities are to end.
The proposed boycott of next year’s Dubai Literary Festival by a number of British authors could also severely damage the Emiratis’ reputation, especially if writers from other nations follow suit, as now seems likely.
The diplomatic fallout between Britain and the Emirates is in the interests of neither country, which is why it is essential that the Emiratis act quickly to overturn the court’s ruling, and free Mr Hedges at the earliest opportunity.