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Arabia
UAE Charges British Student with Spying
2018-10-17
[An Nahar] The United Arab Emirates has charged a British PhD student with spying in the Gulf country, as his wife Tuesday called on Britannia to defend his innocence.

Matthew Hedges stands accused of "spying for a foreign country, jeopardising the military, political and economic security of the state", UAE attorney general Hamad al-Shamsi said late Monday.

The 31-year-old, who was researching the UAE's foreign and internal security policies after the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions, was detained at Dubai airport on May 5.

Hedges' wife Daniela Tejada said Tuesday he been "held in an undisclosed location in the UAE in solitary confinement" with limited access to the consulate and his family as well as no access to a lawyer until last week.

She said Hedges had been told last week he "was being charged with gathering information and sharing it with a foreign agency - the UK Government".

Tejada called on the British government to "clarify publically that Matt is innocent of the charges and that there have been many falsehoods said about him".

"This horrifying situation has been going on for far too long," she said.

Britannia's foreign office said it was supporting Hedges and his family and had been "in close contact with the local authorities", a spokesperson said.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told AFP last week he was "very worried" about Hedges' fate.

"I've spoken to the Emirati foreign minister twice now on this matter face to face so they are very aware of our concerns and we are monitoring it very closely," he said.

The charges against Hedges are based on evidence from investigations carried out by the public prosecution, according to the attorney general.

Posted by:Fred

#1  spying on what? fancy cars, big exotic cats
Posted by: chris   2018-10-17 10:42  

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