British student jailed for life for ‘spying’ on UAE, UK warns of ‘repercussions’
Durham University PhD student, Matthew Hedges has been sentenced to life in prison after allegedly spying on the United Arab Emirates for the UK, a court in Abu Dhabi has ruled.
Hedges' hearing reportedly only lasted five minutes and his lawyer was not present, according to a spokesperson for the family.
The student, from Exeter, Devon, has 30 days to appeal his convictions of spying and sharing sensitive security and intelligence information to third parties.
READ MORE: Dubai-based British twins face jail for allegedly assaulting police & cursing Arab women
A life sentence in UAE includes a maximum of 25 years in jail and can be followed by deportation.
Hedges has denied all charges.
Following the sentencing, Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to raise Heges' case with UAE authorities "at the highest level."
While UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "I am deeply shocked and disappointed" by the UAE verdict, Reuters reports, adding it would have "repercussions for the relationship between our two countries."
Abu Dhabi court sentenced British Matthew Hedges 31 to life in prison on charges of spying and sharing sensitive information with a foreign government. He has 30 days to appeal the verdict. He pretended to be an academic and is registered as PhD student at Durham University. pic.twitter.com/Q7vYD3pUX4
— Abdulkhaleq Abdulla (@Abdulkhaleq_UAE) November 21, 2018
According to his wife, Daniela Tejada, Hedges was in the UAE to conduct interviews for his doctoral thesis on the impact of the Emirates’ foreign and security strategy.
Tejada said that since his arrest on May 5, her husband had been held in solitary confinement with limited access to the UK consulate or his family.
Hedges’ research is said to have touched on highly contentious issues, such as the UAE military and the Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s war against Houthi rebels in Yemen, in which the Gulf nation is an influential participant.
The court said: "The Federal Appeals Court of Abu Dhabi sentenced Matthew Hedges, 31, to life imprisonment after being convicted of spying on the UAE and providing sensitive security and intelligence information to third parties.
"The court also ruled that he would be deported from the country after the execution of the sentence and would be charged the costs of the legal case.
"The court ordered the confiscation of all his equipment, devices, research and studies.
"The convicted person has the right to challenge the ruling with the State Security Department of the Federal Supreme Court within a maximum period of 30 days."
The incident has been a test of the UAE-UK’s so-called ‘special relationship.’ According to analysis of defense exports cleared by Liam Fox’s Department for International Trade (DIT), arms sales to the UAE rose by 94 percent to £260m in 2017.
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