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Wife of UK scholar jailed in UAE blames London
LONDON, Nov 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The wife of a British scholar who was
sentenced to life for spying in the United Arab Emirates accused the Foreign
Office on Thursday of ignoring her pleas for help.
The sentencing of 31-year-old Matthew Hedges on Wednesday shocked Britain
and put political pressure on Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Britain views the UAE as a strategic Middle East ally which it supplies
with arms.
Hedges’s wife Daniela Tejada said upon her return from Dubai that the
Foreign Office was putting its diplomatic interests above those of an
innocent citizen who was placed under arbitrary arrest.
“I got the impression that they were putting their interests with the UAE
above a British citizen’s rightful freedom and his welfare and his right to
just a fair trial, just to freedom,” Tejada told BBC Radio’s Today programme.
“They were stepping on eggshells instead of taking a firm stance.”
Hedges was detained at Dubai airport on May 5 while researching the UAE’s
foreign and internal security policies after the Arab Spring revolutions of
2011.
Hunt began to speak out about the case after Hedges’s family went public
with news of his arrest in October.
The scholar was released on bail on October 29 and top British officials
appeared stunned by Wednesday’s court decision.
Prime Minister Theresa May told a session of parliament she was “deeply
disappointed” and instructed the Foreign Office to “continue to press this
matter at the highest level with the Emiratis”.
Hunt himself issued a statement minutes after the sentencing saying he was
“deeply shocked”.
Tejada said she pleaded with the Foreign Office to force the UAE to
release Hedges from solitary confinement throughout his pre-trial detention.
“They just disregarded my requests. They said that it wasn’t part of their
job, that it wasn’t part of their duty.”
Her voice broke down several times as she described the fear that gripped
her husband during the sentencing.
“He was very, very scared when he was standing in front of the judge,”
said Tejada.
“He started shaking when the translator told him the sentence. He actually
had to ask to double-check if he had heard right.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1620 hrs