British man forgives United Arab Emirates, days after being sentenced to life in jail for espionage: NPR

British academic Matthew Hedges was jailed and pardoned after being accused of espionage in the United Arab Emirates. He is seen here with his wife, Daniela Tejada, while he is on vacation in Thailand.

Daniela Tejada / Reuters

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Daniela Tejada / Reuters

British academic Matthew Hedges was jailed and pardoned after being accused of espionage in the United Arab Emirates. He is seen here with his wife, Daniela Tejada, while he is on vacation in Thailand.

Daniela Tejada / Reuters

Less than a week after the conviction of a British academic at life imprisonment in the United Arab Emirates, Matthew Hedges was released by the President of the United Arab Emirates. Hedges, 31, has been in jail since May. He was accused of spying in the Gulf country.

Hedges spent months in solitary confinement with no access to a lawyer, according to his wife, Daniela Tejada, who campaigned for his release by collaborating with the British government, Human Rights Watch and other groups.

"The presidential pardon granted to Matt is the best news we could have received," said Tejada. via Twitter Monday. Thanking her supporters, she added that with the release of Hedges, "I was brought back to life".

Tejada had written a letter to Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, asking for clemency. The letter was relayed by consular staff in Britain, said the United Arab Emirates.

Forgiveness has "immediate effect," the UAE government said, adding that Hedges can leave the country "once the formalities are met."

Hedges was arrested in May while he was preparing to leave the Dubai International Airport after a search trip to the UAE. A doctoral candidate at Durham University in England, he is writing his thesis on security and foreign policy in the UAE.

As NPR reported last week, "the verdict against Hedges was made at a hearing at which his attorney did not attend and it only took five minutes," reports Reuters. citing family members. They said that Hedges had been forced to sign a confession in Arabic did not understand and that his research notes were used as evidence against him. "

Although Hedges is now clear of all charges, the UAE still maintains that he was acting as a spy:

"The case against Mr. Hedges was based on evidence from Mr. Hedges' electronic devices, surveillance and intelligence gathering activities by the UAE's intelligence and security agencies, and of evidence provided by Mr. Hedges himself – including a corroborated account of the confidential information being targeted.Its recruitment and progress in a foreign intelligence service were authenticated to the Court by the intelligence agencies United Arab Emirates. "

University colleagues Tejada and Hedges insisted that the charges were false. Durham University Vice Chancellor Stuart Corbridge said Monday, "We are thrilled to hear the news of Matt's imminent release."

Hedges is one of 785 prisoners pardoned on Monday by Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the leader of Abu Dhabi. The pardons coincide with the celebrations of the 47th National Day of the country; The government said that the release of the prisoners reflected the "desire of the president to give them a new chance of new life and alleviate the difficulties of their families".

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said last week that the prison sentence had been passed despite assurances from the United Arab Emirates to a fair process. called the liberation of Hedges "fantastic news."

Hedges is not the only academic to be jailed in the UAE this year. From Human Rights Watch:

"In May, the same month after the arrest of Hedges, a court in Abu Dhabi sentenced award-winning human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor to 10 years in prison for defaming the UAE. In March, UAE Courts sentenced Nasser bin Ghaith, a university man, to a 10-year prison sentence, forcibly disappeared in August 2015 and charged him with peaceful criticism. against the UAE and Egyptian authorities. "