Wife of jailed Briton fights spying conviction
Foreign Secretary upset UAE royal family by ‘lecturing’ them on human rights and sensitive topics
SENIOR Whitehall insiders turned on Jeremy Hunt last night over the jailing of a British student in the Gulf, claiming that the Foreign Secretary had upset two crown princes by ‘‘lecturing’’ them on human rights.
A well-placed Government source suggested Mr Hunt’s attempt to intervene in Matthew Hedges’s case on a tour of the region 10 days ago had backfired spectacularly.
Mr Hedges, 31, a Durham University PHD student originally from Exeter, was jailed for life on Wednesday, having spent six months in solitary confinement, over allegations he was an MI6 spy.
The ruling by a court in Abu Dhabi caught the Government off guard and has plunged the UK and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) into a diplomatic crisis. Last night, the UAE suggested Mr Hedges should apply for a presidential pardon, prompting renewed optimism he might yet be released.
According to the Whitehall source, Mr Hunt had been confident of securing Mr Hedges’s release after meeting Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed – known as MBZ – on a flying visit to the UAE on Nov 12.
However, the source claimed, after lecturing him Mr Hunt also upset Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) on the same trip, by raising the case of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist reportedly murdered on his orders at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month.
The source said: “Jeremy Hunt did not understand the diplomatic niceties of the region. He is new to the job. He went face to face with MBZ and MBS and gave them a lecturing. But the advice had been not to travel to Saudi Arabia or UAE. The officials told him not to get involved. Number 10 didn’t want him to go either. It was all too sensitive. Jeremy came back thinking Matthew’s release was in the bag.”
Mr Hunt had posted on Twitter on Nov 13: “Met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed... in UAE yesterday to discuss British and UAE relations. Also raised the case of British national Matthew Hedges. Foreign Office staff continue to support Matthew and his family and we are all hoping for a good outcome.”
The decision by some parts of the Whitehall machine to turn on Mr Hunt exposes deep friction inside the Government over the diplomatic crisis caused by Mr Hedges’s shock imprisonment. The suggestion was strongly denied by Mr Hunt’s team, while Downing Street said he had gone with Theresa May’s full blessing.
A spokesman for the Foreign Secretary said it was false to suggest that the jailing of Mr Hedges “was revenge for Jeremy Hunt being too tough” in the meetings.
He pointed to Mr Hunt’s comments at the time that he had had “a constructive conversation” with the UAE’S foreign minister.
Yesterday afternoon Mr Hedges’s wife Daniela Tejada, 27, spent an hour with Mr Hunt, thanking him for his support. Afterwards she said: “As you can imagine, this has been an incredibly difficult time for myself, for the rest of Matt’s family and friends, but especially for Matt, who is an innocent victim in all this.
“Seeing him shaking in court after being handed a life sentence and then being made to leave was beyond heartbreaking. We didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
She added: “I really appreciate the Foreign Secretary taking the time to meet me at this crucial point in mine and Matt’s life. He has assured me that he and his team are doing everything in their power to get Matt free and return him home to me.
“This is not a fight I can win alone and I thank the Foreign Office for now standing up for one of their citizens.”
Earlier in the day, Ms Tejada had turned on the Foreign Office for failing to “take a firmer stance” to UAE when Mr Hedges was arrested at Dubai airport on May 5 as he tried to leave the country. At the time, Boris Johnson was foreign secretary before being replaced by Mr Hunt in July.
In a withering attack, Ms Tejada told
Today on BBC Radio 4: “I was under the impression they [the Foreign Office] were putting their interests with the UAE above a British citizen’s rightful freedom and welfare.”
She added: “They just disregarded my requests, they said it wasn’t part of their job, it wasn’t part of their duty.”
Mr Hedges was yesterday beginning his life term at an unnamed prison and could spend up to 25 years in jail after he was convicted of spying in a fiveminute hearing without his lawyer present.
It is thought he was arrested after a local official he had interviewed for his thesis on the UAE’S security policies told police he had been asking for sensitive information.
Analysts say that the UAE’S definition of espionage is much broader than in other countries in the region.
“Their intelligence services have wide reach and their sense of spying would be a very broad interpretation. Ask the wrong things in the wrong way and it can potentially go very wrong quickly,” said James Sorene, the chief executive of Bicom research centre.
Yesterday, the UAE moved to justify the sentencing, insisting the court had been presented with “compelling and powerful evidence”.
Mr Hedges may also argue his case via a possible appeal, which he has 30 days to lodge.