UAE releases academic

CHADIAN President Idriss Deby during a visit to the Hall of Names in the Holocaust History Museum at the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Jerusalem, yesterday. Chad is one of several states engaged in Western-backed operations against the Boko Haram militant group and extremists from the Islamic State group. Deby confirmed that the two countries were committed to a new era of co-operation, but said this did not change his call for a peace process with the Palestinians. | Reuters | African News Agency (ANA) THE UNITED Arab Emirates yesterday pardoned and released a British academic jailed for life on spying charges, granting a request for clemency after showing a video of him purportedly confessing to membership of the UK’s MI6 intelligence service.

The case has strained ties between the long-time allies, leading London to issue a forceful diplomatic response after last week’s verdict was handed down, with a warning that it could hurt relations.

The UAE president issued the pardon as part of a mass clemency of more than 700 prisoners to mark the country’s National Day, according to a statement on state news agency WAM.

The pardon was effective immediately, and Matthew Hedges, a 31-yearold doctoral student at Durham University who was held for more than six months, will be allowed to leave the country “once formalities are completed”, the statement said.

A UAE official later said Hedges had been freed.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed the move, which he called “fantastic news”.

“Although we didn’t

agree

with the charges, we are grateful to the UAE government for resolving the issue speedily.”

Hunt said it was also a “bittersweet moment” because he was thinking about innocent people still detained in Iran, the arch-foe of Abu Dhabi. “Justice won’t be truly done until they, too, are safely home,” he said.

Hedge’s wife, Daniela Tejada, said his family was “elated” at the news.

The UAE had signalled on Friday that it was working on an “amicable solution” to the case after Prime Minister Theresa May had described last week’s sentence as deeply disappointing.

Hedges has been held since May 5, when he was arrested at Dubai International Airport after a two-week research visit.

Tejada has said he was kept in solitary confinement for more than five months and the evidence presented against him consisted of notes from his dissertation research.

Last week’s hearing lasted less than five minutes, she said.