a Doctoral student at the university of Durham, in the north-east of England, Matthew Hedges had traveled to the united arab Emirates to conduct interviews on foreign policy and the strategy of the country in terms of security. Result: this British 31-year-old has been convicted of espionage, according to the site uae The National. The interested party may plead his innocence and assure it to be delivered on-site to carry out her thesis on the impact of the arab spring to the Uae. The argument did not convince the federal court of Abu Dhabi sentenced Wednesday to life in prison, or 25 years in prison. The hearing lasted five minutes and the accused was not even represented by a lawyer, complain to his relatives.
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Arrested on 5 may at the Dubai airport while he was preparing to leave the country, Matthew Hedges had been placed on parole to the end of October, once known the charges against him. Meanwhile, assures his family, he was held in solitary confinement in a location not revealed. It would have been a very limited access to her entourage, as well as to the consular services. To believe the attorney general of the Emirates Hamad al-Shamsi, the person concerned has used its status of the researcher as a cover, and the charges are based “on evidence”. The accused had signed during his detention, a document to load written in Arabic. However, object relatives, he can neither write nor speak that language.
“I am completely in shock and I don’t know what to do. Matthew is innocent”
“Our nightmare continues to get worse”, reacts with his wife Daniela Tejada after the announcement of the verdict. “I am completely in shock and I don’t know what to do. Matthew is innocent.” According to it, the whole matter has been “handled very poorly from the beginning, without that person taking the case seriously”. It urges the british government to act, saying you have “very scared” for him. “We will continue to do all we can to support it”, said the minister of foreign Affairs, Jeremy Hunt, who brandished the threat of repercussions. During a session of questions in Parliament, the first minister of the united kingdom, Theresa May, said it was “deeply disappointed”. The Uk still has 30 days to appeal his judgment.
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