‘Trade prioritised’ over activist held in Egypt

A BRITISH academic wrongly detained in the Gulf has accused ministers of “prioritising’ trade over the rights of a UK citizen held in Egypt for more than a decade.

Writing for The Telegraph online, Matthew Hedges has accused the Government of “failing to protect” British citizens held by authoritarian regimes. He, along with other former detainees, are demanding an “overhaul” in the way the Foreign Office deals with such cases.

It follows growing concerns over Alaa Abd el-Fattah, an Anglo-Egyptian political activist, who has been arrested and imprisoned on numerous occasions. Mr Abd el-Fattah, 41, has spent the past six months on hunger strike, coming close to death after refusing to drink water for a number of days.

Mr Hedges, who was held in 2018 by the authorities in the United Arab Emirates after he was falsely accused of being an MI6 agent, said: “I can attest to the nightmare that Alaa is in and the frustration his family faces with the Government.

“I was jailed, abused and tortured in the UAE over a period of seven months, and charged with espionage for Britain. I was held in solitary confinement and fed a cocktail of stimulants and tranquillisers throughout regular 15-hour interrogations.

“But the UK Government did not protect me from this abuse. The UAE, like Egypt, is a deeply authoritarian state and seen as a British ally. As a result, our Government continues to prioritise economic and security ties over the rights of British citizens and respect for the UK’s standing.”

He said it took too long for the British Embassy “to secure their first visit to see me” and that by then he had been forced to sign a false confession. He said the FCDO “wrongly informed my wife that the best way was to stay quiet and let them solve the issue discreetly”.