UAE turned Briton into drug addict when they jailed him
A BRITISH academic wrongly accused of spying is still addicted to the drugs he was given against his will by his captors.
Despite being released a year ago, it is only now that Matthew Hedges has been able to begin seeking counselling for the post-traumatic stress disorder he was left with after his interrogation and six months in solitary confinement.
The revelations emerge as his wife, Daniela Tejada, joins forces with Richard Ratcliffe – the husband of Nazanin Ratcliffe who is still being held in Iran – and other relatives to demand that the Government enshrine the protection of British citizens jailed abroad.
Ms Tejada has accused the Foreign Office of “apathy”, insisting it failed to act until she started a campaign to raise awareness about his plight.
Yesterday she revealed the hell of his imprisonment in the United Arab Emirates did not end with his release in November last year.
“This has been a very tough year for him and us as a family. A lot of scars had to heal and open wounds are still being addressed,” she said.
“Matt was finally able to start therapy three weeks ago. He has PTSD, depression and anxiety.
“For some time he couldn’t bear crowded places, which was challenging in London.
“He had massive anxiety, panic attacks, deep depression, permanent exhaustion and an unwillingness to leave the house.
“He’s having trouble sleeping and is dependant on the anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pills that were forced into him while in prison. He was given nearly 10 times the recommended NHS dose.
“That’s a form of physical torture and will be carried by him for years.”
Mr Hedges was arrested in
May last year as he was about to leave Dubai after a two-week research trip into Middle Eastern security issues for his PHD thesis.
He was convicted of “seeking confidential information about the UAE” after claims he had confessed to the charges. He was initially sentenced to life imprisonment but pardoned in November last year. But Ms Tejada said his ordeal could have ended much sooner had the Foreign Office decided to take his case seriously.
“Of his seven months, six were greeted by apathy by the Foreign Office,” she said. “I’m sure most people think the Government was using back channels during those six months. They weren’t.
“Despite my efforts, they did not take action until I decided to run a public campaign. Suddenly the Foreign Secretary and MPS in Parliament were talking about him. “It’s not that the Government is incapable of acting – they’ve shown they can move heaven and earth once a campaign hits social media. “It only took a phone call to get him released in the end.
“But families shouldn’t need to campaign before their government takes notice.” The new campaign, British Rights Abroad, calls for the Government to make it a law that it must defend citizens’ rights abroad “above all other interests”. Ms Tejada said: “Currently, any form of consular assistance is discretionary. “The FCO has full reign to decide which cases are worthy of its attention. This is often very politicised. “That’s why we started our coalition of