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UAE considers clemency appeal for Matthew Hedges UAE considers clemency appeal for Matthew Hedges
(35 minutes later)
The family of a British academic who was convicted of spying in the United Arab Emirates has appealed for clemency, the country’s ambassador to the UK has said.The family of a British academic who was convicted of spying in the United Arab Emirates has appealed for clemency, the country’s ambassador to the UK has said.
Sulaiman Almazroui told a press conference in London on Friday that his government was considering the appeal and would respond in due course but he defended the process under which Matthew Hedges was convicted. Sulaiman Almazroui said in London on Friday that his government was considering the appeal and would respond in due course but he defended the process under which Matthew Hedges was convicted.
The jailing of Hedges, a 31-year-old Durham University PhD student, sparked a public outcry this week, with the Gulf state being accused of a miscarriage of justice.The jailing of Hedges, a 31-year-old Durham University PhD student, sparked a public outcry this week, with the Gulf state being accused of a miscarriage of justice.
Hedges’s wife, Daniela Tejada, had said she believed the UK government had been putting its interests above her husband’s fight for freedom. In a televised press statement Almazroui said: “Matthew Hedges was not convicted after a five-minute show trial, as some have reported. Over the course of one month, three judges evaluated compelling evidence in three hearings.
She said had spoken to her husband on Thursday night and he had complained of feeling unwell.
Almazroui said: “Matthew Hedges was not convicted after a five-minute show trial, as some have reported. Over the course of one month, three judges evaluated compelling evidence in three hearings.
“They reached their conclusions after a full and proper process. This was an extremely serious case. We live in a dangerous neighbourhood and national security must be a top priority.“They reached their conclusions after a full and proper process. This was an extremely serious case. We live in a dangerous neighbourhood and national security must be a top priority.
“Mr Hedges’s family have made a request for clemency and the government is studying that request. The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had a good conversation yesterday with our foreign minister.” “Mr Hedges’s family have made a request for clemency and the government is studying that request. The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had a good conversation yesterday with our foreign minister.
“Like the UK, the UAE is a country with an independent judiciary. The government does not dictate verdicts to the court.”
He emphasised the close ties between Britain and the UAE, adding: “Because of the strength of that relationship we are hopeful that an amicable solution can be reached.”He emphasised the close ties between Britain and the UAE, adding: “Because of the strength of that relationship we are hopeful that an amicable solution can be reached.”
Tejada confirmed that an appeal for clemency had been lodged with the UAE government adding: “We will wait to see what happens.” Tejada confirmed that an appeal for clemency had been lodged with the UAE government, adding: “We will wait to see what happens.”
By tradition the UAE grants pardons for jailed offenders on the country’s national day, which falls next Thursday.
The request for clemency may involve the Hedges family in some admission of guilt, but this could be seen as a price worth paying if there is an implicit understanding between the Foreign Office and the UAE government that a request will be followed by a pardon and his release.
The ambassador’s statement followed consultations in the UAE overnight on Thursday with the foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, and a conversation described as “constructive” on the phone between Hunt and Zayed on Thursday.
The Foreign Office is increasingly optimistic that the UAE, a longstanding British ally, wants to avoid a diplomatic confrontation with London, or find itself in the same basket as Saudi Arabia, a country that is suffering reputationally as a result of the killing of the Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi state agents.
Hedges’s wife, Daniela Tejada, had said she believed the UK government had been putting its interests above her husband’s fight for freedom.
She said had spoken to her husband on Thursday night and he had complained of feeling unwell.
Hedges, originally from Exeter, was arrested at Dubai airport on 5 May. He says he is innocent and was in the country conducting research on the UAE’s security strategy for his PhD thesis, but prosecutors claimed he confessed to charges.Hedges, originally from Exeter, was arrested at Dubai airport on 5 May. He says he is innocent and was in the country conducting research on the UAE’s security strategy for his PhD thesis, but prosecutors claimed he confessed to charges.
Tejada told BBC Breakfast her conversations with her husband had been closely monitored so there was a limit to what she could tell him of the efforts to secure his release.Tejada told BBC Breakfast her conversations with her husband had been closely monitored so there was a limit to what she could tell him of the efforts to secure his release.
“I tried to reassure him and to tell him that he had 10 times as much support as before,” Tejada said.“I tried to reassure him and to tell him that he had 10 times as much support as before,” Tejada said.
Hedges has been in a UAE prison for more than six months. He went to the UAE to research his thesis and was sentenced at a court in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday in a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, with no lawyer present.Hedges has been in a UAE prison for more than six months. He went to the UAE to research his thesis and was sentenced at a court in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday in a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, with no lawyer present.
His wife, who was in the courtroom, said Hedges began shaking when the verdict was read out.
The UAE has since said it wants to reach an amicable conclusion to the dispute.
The apparent change in tone, which was viewed as a possible precursor to an act of clemency, came after Hunt warned of serious diplomatic consequences if Hedges were not released, and followed a torrent of cross-party criticism in the UK accusing the UAE courts of a miscarriage of justice.
Consultations took place overnight in the UAE with the foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Academics have said Hedges may have inadvertently put himself at risk by his “sharp analysis” of the UAE’s shifting security politics. The country presents itself as a modernising, socially liberal force in the Gulf, but dissent is repressed.Academics have said Hedges may have inadvertently put himself at risk by his “sharp analysis” of the UAE’s shifting security politics. The country presents itself as a modernising, socially liberal force in the Gulf, but dissent is repressed.
On Thursday, Tejada said she wanted Hunt to do whatever it took to bring her husband home. She said it was absurd the UAE had found Hedges guilty of spying on an ally of Britain, and accused the Foreign Office of refusing to take the case seriously at the outset. Chris Davidson, a former reader in Middle East politics and a fellow at Durham University, who helped supervise Hedges’s research, said: “The overall flavour [of his research] was actually sympathetic to the UAE – very objective, well-sourced. It was not intending to cause any difficulties.”
Tejada said the Foreign Office had repeatedly told her it had no duty of care for Hedges. “I was under the impression that they were putting their interests with the UAE above a British citizen’s right to freedom and a fair trial. They were treading on eggshells,” she said. He added: “Everything that I read would have been absolutely of no use to an intelligence agency. There was nothing classified. It was all public domain [information]. [There was] no suggestion to me that he may have been surreptitiously working for an intelligence agency at the same time.
But in a later statement issued after her meeting with Hunt, she toned down her criticism, saying: “[Hunt] 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.” “The UAE seems pretty adamant that they have hard evidence. But if [Matthew] has emails from gov.uk on his electronic devices as far as they are concerned that might establish a hard relationship with the British government. I know he did an FCO briefing a few weeks before this fieldwork to brief the new UK ambassador to the UAE. But other academics have attended those briefings over the years. It doesn’t make them a spy and the UAE should know that.”
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